A Warrior's Love
by Adam nar'Althor
Summary: This story takes place in the Mass Effect 3 universe. It is a Paragon, unless indicated otherwise, MShep/Tali Romance story. Shep romanced Tali in ME2 and no one in ME1. I intend to make this story faithful to the established ME3 canon but will have additions that are of my own design and a VERY different ending. This story is on a hiatus until I finish my other EC Ending story.
1. Chapter 1: They're Here

It was happening again. The dream was back. It came once a week now. Shepard had been away from battle for nearly six months due to his discharge from the Alliance and subsequent incarceration. He missed his ship, his crew, but most importantly, Shepard missed Tali. 6 months is a long time to be separated from the person you love. The mental stress of this separation was troubling. No wonder Shepard was having dreams about her. Shepard opened his eyes. He was in a field of sunflowers on Earth. The warm sunbeams bathed his face as he stood up in this illusionary world. There is a city off in the distance but the field itself appeared empty until Shepard heard a voice behind him. A familiar voice. A comforting voice.

"Shepard."

Shepard turned around and saw Tali there, waiting for him. Clouds moved in front of the sun and a small shadow fell upon the field. Shepard smiled, reached out and grasped her forearms and she did the same. As they stood together, the few clouds that were blocking the sunlight broke apart. The sunlight lit up the city's skyline behind Tali and blinded Shepard.

"It's OK Shepard. It's all going to be OK."

The blinding light made him blink several times and burned his retinas.

His eyes shot open. The ceiling of his quarters slowly came into focus. Shepard smiled as he stretched and got out of his bed. His dreams were the only interactions with Tali that he has had for months. They may be illusions, but he thoroughly enjoyed them. As Shepard began his morning ritual, his mind inevitably remembered how things were, back on the Normandy with the crew. He missed Garrus, Joker, Mordin, Liara, even the artificial intelligence EDI. Them and every other crew member. He had a good run with them. Destroying the Collector base took a lot of effort from everyone. The crew had grown close during the journey.

_Regularly fighting side by side tends to do that to people,_ Shepard thought.

He often wondered what happened to them but the Alliance had cut him off from the outside world. The Reapers could be invading right now for all he knew. This isolation left Shepard alone to wallow in his memories.

Shepard shook his head to return to reality. The memories faded back into the recesses of his mind, where they would wait until he needed them again. Wallowing in nostalgia and fantasies was not Shepard's style. The problem was that Shepard had nothing else to do except remember and exercise. He felt so helpless. Nothing he could do in this room would help defend the galaxy against the Reapers. Shepard took up the datapad from his desk and walked over to the window overlooking the courtyard outside of the Alliance's HQ in North America. The datapad was slowly being filled by Shepard's memoirs. He figured that people needed to know how the galaxy struggled against the seemingly inevitable conclusion of all advanced life. Shepard was no historian but he could write his view of the events as well as any literate man. He is after all, one of the few people who understand the threat of the Reapers from first hand experience.

A flicker of movement in the courtyard caught his eye. Shepard looked over and saw a small child, no more than six or seven years old, playing in the courtyard. He leaned on the window and frowned. The longer he observed the child, the more troubling the thought grew. He couldn't remember that innocence. The pure innocence of a child. He knew that he had seen far too much war to achieve that. But that wasn't the issue. What was making him frown was that he didn't care. He… enjoyed his warrior lifestyle. There is no room for such childish naivette in a warrior. It's not that Shepard looked down upon this innocence, but he understood that not everyone could retain it. Some people must let go of this naivette to allow others to live their happy yet naïve lives. Some people need to make the sacrifices so that others wouldn't have to.

_Besides, I enjoy my role _Shepard thought_._

Shepard's mind quickly moved from the resolved issue. Slowly, a smile spread across Shepard's face as he recalled one particular instance on the Collector base. He had grabbed a Harbinger controlled Collector, slammed its chitin head against the top of the low wall he was using for cover, grabbed the back of its neck, and repeatedly bashed its face into the wall until white liquid started pouring forth from its shattered head.

_Good times._

A small hiss emanated from the entryway as the door to Shepard's room opened, interrupting his reverie. James Vega strode in and immediately saluted the disgraced officer. "Commander."

Shepard turned to him and returned the salute.

"You're not supposed to call me that anymore James. I'm a civvie now."

"Not supposed to salute you either Commander. We gotta go."

Shepard was confused about why James was sent to fetch him but James knew no more than he was told: Go get Shepard and bring him to the Defense Committee. Luckily, Captain Anderson met them in the hallway.

_He should know what's going on_.

"Admiral" James greeted and expertly saluted as protocol dictated. Admiral Anderson saluted James in return and then went straight for Shepard.

"You look good Shepard. Maybe a little soft around the edges. How are you holding up being relieved from duty?"

"It's not so bad once you get used to the hot food and soft beds." Shepard retorted. "But I've been bored as hell stuck in here."

"Don't worry" Anderson replied, "We'll get it sorted out."

Shepard expressed his disbelief.

"Looks like you're all too busy. What's going on? Why's everyone in such a hurry?"

That's when Shepard heard that the Reapers were on their way. Shepard was understandably frustrated with the damn bureaucratic dithering of the politicians.

"You know we're not ready for them Anderson, not by a long shot."

Anderson agreed but knew that things are the way they are and they weren't going to change anytime soon.

"Tell that to the committee" Anderson replied.

"Unless we're planning to talk the Reapers to death the COMMITTEE is a waste of time. Along with all the other political red tape in our way."

_This is definitely the work of a politician. If there's a problem, make a committee to discuss the problem but that can't actually do anything about it. If there's a problem with that committee, make another committee controlled by a different political party to investigate the problem. If any plan is brought forth, just make another committee to discuss the feasibility of that plan. The cycle of political bullshit is endless._

"Try to understand their position Shepard. They haven't seen what you've seen. You've seen the Reapers. You've faced down 2 Reapers and personally killed them both. Hell, you talked to one. You've seen how they harvest us, what they plan to do to us. You know more about this enemy than anyone."

"So they want me as a consultant? That why they grounded me? Took away my ship? My crew? My people?"

Anderson stopped, turned to Shepard and tried to explain as his mentor.

"You know that's not true. When you blew up the Batarian Relay hundreds of thousands of Batarians died when their planets were destroyed in the explosion, and you cut off all access to that system. Relations with the Batarians were already bad but now they are non-existent."

"It was either that or let the Reapers walk through our back door! I had to make a decision. I saved the trillions over the millions. What else was I supposed to do?"

Shepard started to get worked up. Living in a cage hadn't helped his emotional state.

"I know that Shepard, and so does the Committee, even if they act otherwise. If it wasn't for that you'd have been court-martialed and left to rot in the brig. Most likely they would have executed you as a rogue genocidal Commander" Anderson reasoned.

"That and your good word?" Shepard shot back.

"Yeah. I trust you Shepard. And so does the Committee."

"What do they expect from me? I'm a soldier Anderson. I fight. I'm no politician."

Anderson continued walking and Shepard fell back in step.

"They don't need you to be either. We just need you to do whatever the hell it takes to help us stop the Reapers."

As they both approached the security terminal in front of the meeting hall, Shepard noticed Ashley walking out of the meeting hall toward them. He could barely recognize her. She didn't have her hair in the usual bun and… _Is she wearing makeup_? Shepard hadn't seen her since they met on Horizon. That parting had been far from amicable so Shepard quickly collected his thoughts to prepare to speak to her. Luckily, James delayed their meeting by saying goodbye to the former commander. The stalling tactics were cut short however when Ashley called out his name.

"Shepard!"

Shepard turned around as if he hadn't seen her.

"Ashley?" Shepard asked, with fake surprise. Anderson interrupted the reunion to get straight to business.

"Lieutenant Commander. How'd it go in there?"

_Wait, an LC?_

"I can never tell with politicians. I'm just waiting for orders now." Ashley replied.

"Lieutenant Commander?" Shepard asked.

"Oh, you hadn't heard?" Anderson said.

"No. I'm a bit out of the loop these days." Shepard spoke stiffly both because his time incarcerated was something he longed to forget and because Ashley was there. His words had to be carefully chosen. Ashley might take anything he said the wrong way.

"Sorry sir" Ashley assured him just as stiffly. "Didn't mean to keep you out of the loop."

_She still calls me 'sir.' I guess everyone just associates me with the military whenever they see me. I don't mind. It reminds me of my purpose; to fight._

"I'm sure you had your reasons." _Like thinking I'm a Cerberus agent._

"Yeah I guess I did." Ashley responded. "Still, it's good to see you." _Fair enough._

A secretary walked over and directed Admiral Anderson and Shepard into the meeting hall. Shepard put a tight mental lid on his words and focused himself for the meeting. The committee greeted them both as they entered.

"Admiral Anderson. Shepard."

_Alright, down to business_. "What's the situation?"

"We were hoping you would tell us."

The Admiral that had spoken motioned over an analyst. The analyst gave Shepard a datapad with reports starting with the colonies furthest from Sol and closest to the Batarian systems. The female member of the committee explained what he was looking at.

"The reports coming in are unlike anything we've seen. Whole colonies have gone dark. We've lost contact with everything beyond the Sol Relay."

The man in the center of the council continued but Shepard was only half listening. Politicians were never good at reading military reports so he was double checking the reports in his hands.

"Whatever this is, it's incomprehensively powerful."

_What do you mean, 'Whatever this is'? I've already told you what this is!_ Shepard finally had the hard evidence everyone had been begging for regarding his ridiculed 'Reaper Theory'. Now it might be too late.

"You brought me to confirm what you already know" Shepard announced. "The Reapers are here."

Everyone in the room knew about his Reaper theory because he had been yelling about it around the galaxy for nearly 3 years. The group of aides next to the committee grew more agitated and several loud gasps were heard. The female council member recovered quickly from her terror.

"Then… how do we stop them?"

"Stop them?" Shepard blurted out. "This isn't about strategy or tactics. This is about survival."

Shepard went on to regale the committee with all of the advantages the Reapers had in his attempt to make them fully understand the position humanity and the entire galaxy was now in.

"But," the female council member nearly whispered, "there must be some way."

Shepard inhaled sharply and paused as he contemplated what he was about to say. During the mission to stop Saren and then the Collectors, Shepard had sharpened his tongue with several pep talks. The words quickly came to him.

"Everyone must be united. Humanity, Quarians, turians, krogan, everyone! We must all be willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure the continuation of galactic civilization. Selfishness can no longer exist in this galaxy if any of us are to survive."

The center council member stared at Shepard for a moment then spoke up with some contention.

"That's it? That's your plan! How will that help us!"

"We need help. Galactic help" was Shepard's simple reply.

This announcement did not sit well with anyone else in the room. A comms technician interrupted from the side of the room and spoke to Admiral Anderson.

"Admiral, we've lost contact with Luna base."

Anderson bowed his head in disbelief.

"The moon? They couldn't be that close already."

Terrified looks spread like wildfire across the room.

"How did they get past our defenses?" the woman council member asked herself as fear and doubt creased her forehead.

The other two council members looked as worried as she did.

_Keep it together you fluffy politicians! You're here to defend Earth. Don't you dare run and stick your head in the sand! Things are only going to get worse._

The comms technician cut in with an urgent status update for Anderson, again ignoring the politicians. Her speech came out as a as if detached and analytical. _She's good._

"Sir, UK headquarters has a visual."

The video that played out on the screen caused the room to stop moving. A pin drop could've been heard. As the images flashed before Shepard's eyes, he was reminded of the video he saw of Eden Prime being attacked by Sovereign back before anyone knew about the Reapers or the coming extinction.

_Looks like we're coming full circle. I hope we're as lucky._

The first thing anyone heard after the video froze on a Reaper was Anderson's voice.

"Why haven't we heard from Admiral Hackett?"

Shepard was just as confused. How could the Alliance's fleets not notice a giant Reaper invasion sweeping through our home system? He looked around at everyone in the room.

_They could all die right now._

The thought that he spoke just a few moments ago finally hit him.

_The. Reapers. Are. Here. This is the beginning of the end for everyone. The next extinction cycle. This galaxy, no, MY galaxy, is under attack by the greatest force in existence. All of us are going to- no! Stop thinking that way Shepard! I can't let this happen. Oh no… Tali. Where is she? I can't let anything happen to her. I have to find her!_

A very faint red light shined out of the center of Shepard's left pupil and quickly died away as his mind chose his mission.

_This isn't going to happen on my watch!_

"What do we do?"

Shepard didn't know who said that but he turned toward the voice with renewed vigor.

"The only thing we can. We fight or we die."

Shepard stabbed his finger at the giant Reaper behind him for emphasis. Anderson nodded in agreement as the politicians finally began to grasp the situation.

"We should get to the Normandy."

Before Shepard and Anderson could leave, a mechanical moan could be heard outside of the building. No one else recognized it for what it was except Shepard. He had experienced that scream on too many occasions. Shepard's heart rate tripled in that moment. His breathing became deeper and faster. His eyes began flickering from spot to spot, attempting to see everything. His combat reflexes had taken control.

_This is it!_

The female council member saw what was happening first.

"Oh my God!"

_No time for that now lady!_

As the crowd turned toward the window behind the council members, a Reaper similar to Sovereign descended upon the city. A fiery beam began scouring the land, killing, and started moving toward the Council chamber. In a last ditch effort to protect the people around him Shepard shouted "Move!" as he began running. The laser completed its journey and reached the building. The heat of the laser caused the glass window to explode and the laser entered the room. The heat was unbearable. The council members were instantly killed and their giant podium was launched across the room from an explosion. Shepard quickly dove underneath it as he ran for the exit, away from the beam. The beam appeared to back away from the building for a moment. In that moment, Shepard turned back toward the Reaper in surprise at the pause in the assault but the beam quickly returned with greater force. The beam impacted the center of the Council chamber. The walls erupted in fire and charred bodies flew through the air or melted from existence. Something underneath the floor exploded and threw Shepard against the back wall. Shepard collapsed onto a bench and fell to the floor as consciousness evaded him. As blackness receded, returned, and receded again and again, Shepard had only one coherent thought.

_Tali… Oh fuck this hurts. I need… to find her. Get off the floor Shepard!_

"Shepard!"

_Tali? Is that you?_

"Shepard!"

_I'm up Tali!_

Shepard sat up on the floor. The image before him does not resolve into Tali, rather into Anderson running toward him.

During their escape to the Normandy, Shepard and Anderson had to deal with a malfunctioning door. Shepard let Anderson pass through first and was about to follow when he heard a small sound from a nearby air vent. Fearing another husk assault, Shepard whispered

"Hold on a sec Anderson. I think I heard something."

"I didn't hear…" Anderson began but stopped when he saw Shepard ignore him and walk toward the vent.

With his pistol pointed toward the unexplored hallway, Anderson turned his back on the door and watched the hallway he had entered for movement. Shepard crouched next to the air vent, readied his pistol, and quickly turned to see into the vent with his pistol pointing forward. A small gasp came out of the small child that inhabited the vent. Surprised, Shepard quickly holstered his weapon when he saw there was no threat. It was, in fact, the child Shepard had seen playing in the courtyard of the building housing the Council meeting. Before the child could flee, Shepard tried to calm him.

"Hey. It's okay."

The child raised his head and looked directly into Shepard's eyes. His eyes pierced Shepard's. He saw past this lie.

"Everyone's dying" came out of the teary eyed child.

Before Shepard could respond, the building groaned in protest and soft Reaper groans could be heard in the background. Shepard turned his head toward the source. A Reaper's 'leg' had slammed into the ground nearby.

"I can get you away from these monsters. Come here. I can get you someplace safe. I promise. Take my hand."

Shepard reached his hand tenderly out toward the child. The child shook his head in resignation.

"You can't help me" the child said with a knowing voice.

A Reaper moan emanated into the room shortly after this conclusive statement.

"Shepard!"

Shepard quickly looked away from the child toward Anderson.

"In here" Anderson continued. "I think I've found a way out."

Shepard turned back toward the kid before he joined Anderson. To his surprise, the child had managed to crawl away without a sound.

Shepard walked deeper into the Normandy's cargo hold as it began leaving Earth. He understood why Anderson decided to stay and agreed with him, but Shepard was still frustrated that his mentor had to remain in harm's way. Disappointed, Shepard watched Anderson's lonely silhouette run back into the rubble, towards the fight.

_I hate tactical retreats. I'll leave to fight another day Anderson. I promise I won't fail Earth, and I sure as fuck won't fail the galaxy. At least now that the Reapers are a tangible threat, the other species will be more willing to help… I hope._

A sick sarcastic smile crawled across his mouth at the thought of the Council continuing their disbelief in the existence of the Reapers.

_That would be so fucking hilarious. _

Shepard watched the Earth skyline burn from the safety of his ship. His eye caught sight of a couple of transports trying to evacuate civilians after dropping off a group of reinforcements. Shepard did a double take when he saw a small figure walk toward a transport.

_It's that kid from the vent! He's going to make it after all._

But the now common and dreaded moan soon came from around a nearby skyscraper. A land based Reaper came around its corner and walked toward the now full transports. The child slowly climbed into the transport and somehow looked up directly at Shepard. The fear in the child's eyes was evident. The door to the transport closed and the child was lost to Shepard's concerned eyes.

_Come on! Take off! Get away!_

The overburdened transports seemed to take off in slow motion. The Reaper was already charging its main laser as the transports finally began flying away. The beam shot out of the Reaper. It swept the ground the transport had just vacated but veered toward the two fleeing ships. The outcome of that race was never in doubt.

…_Shit_.

The beam grazed the rear of the child's transport. The small ship couldn't survive. The entire back of the ship exploded and the rest crashed into the ground. For good measure, the Reaper destroyed the other ship attempting to escape and then returned to the Alliance forces on the ground.

_It just doesn't care._

Shepard turned his head from the scene of senseless slaughter as the Normandy accelerated away.

_Don't be a coward! This is happening whether you look or not. See what the Reapers are doing. See why they need to be stopped._

Shepard opened his eyes and defiantly stared at the Reaper. The accompanying devastation and loss was burned into his mind.

_That child will be avenged. How many more will die? Human children, Turian children… Quarian children._

That last one made him think of Tali and that only strengthened his resolve. Shepard turned his back on his home and left it behind to save it.


	2. Chapter 2: Focus and Mistrust

The trip to Mars was quick. A few million miles is nothing to a ship with Mass Effect drives. Shepard jumped out of the transport onto the rust coloured sand. It felt good to have his armour on, his weapons on his back, and his trusty Avenger M-8 in his hands.

"We only have 30 minutes before radio contact is broken by the storm and I don't want to take any chances. Maintain constant radio contact so that we can't be surprised. Let's move people."

"Will do Commander but I think you're a bit rusty." Ashley dryly responded at the unnecessary repetition of standard insertion protocol.

"What? It was meant for the rookie." Shepard joked.

James replied with swaggering confidence.

"You really should try reading my-"

"Cut the non-mission essential chatter soldier." Shepard cut in.

James just harrumphed into his helmet. Shepard laughed. The newly reinstated commander led the way, constantly scanning the rocky landscape for movement. He glanced down a small jump and groaned.

"What is it?" Ashley asked.

Shepard jumped down amidst the bodies of Alliance soldiers. Dead Alliance soldiers. He knelt to examine the two bodies. A few moments later, he removed their dogtags.

"They're KIA." Shepard announced.

"It doesn't look like they put up a fight in the end." Ashley said as she analyzed the area. "There are bullet holes in the area but the kill shots are to the top of their heads… execution style."

"We'll get the bastards who did this." James hissed.

Shepard nodded but knew he had to keep them focused. After seeing their world burn, James seemed to be the most prone to becoming a loose cannon.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. Don't let this get under your skin."

Shepard concluded his statement as he attached the sniper rifle of one of the fallen soldiers to his back. James muttered a quiet profanity or five in regard to the executioners but Shepard motioned them onward.

"Keep a low profile. We don't know where these guys are."

"Roger that." James reassured him.

As the three warriors made their way along the ridgeline a shot rang out. All three dove behind some short barriers on the road for cover. They all looked further down the road where the shot had emanated from. A group of Alliance servicemen were kneeled in a row as a group of soldiers in different uniforms, with a strangely familiar colour palette, patrolled around them.

"Any idea who those guys are? James muttered.

Four of the strange soldiers simultaneously raised their weapons to the heads of the kneeled soldiers and fired.

"Shit!" Shepard hissed into his helmet.

"Fuck this!" James bellowed and attempted to stand up to fire at the executioners.

Before he rose more than a few inches, Shepard grabbed him by the helmet and shoved him back down.

"Stay hidden!"

"Like hell Commander! You saw what they just did!" James shouted.

_There's that loose cannon coming out._

Ashley had fought alongside the commander enough to understand. She put a hand on James' shoulder from behind him in case he tried to rise again.

"We need to ambush them properly" she explained. "There are too many of them to just run in guns blazing."

Shepard picked up where she left off.

"We''ll kill them soon James, but we'll do it like the well trained soldiers we are, not like thugs in Chora's Den."

Ashley nodded at him, catching the reference. James shrugged off Ashley's hand.

"Fine. What's the plan?"

Shepard peeked out from behind his cover and observed the enemy combatants as he spoke.

"They don't seem to be on patrol. They are just a clean up crew, removing the survivors of the initial assault."

The rock formation by the cliffside caught his attention.

_That is the best place in the area to spring an ambush. _

"But nothing is as it seems with Cerberus. Ashley, you can move up along the cliffside. There's plenty of cover. That will bring you around to their left flank. Flush out any soldiers in cover you can. I'll hang back here and put this sniper rifle to good work."

"Only fitting." James remarked.

"Wait Commander, why would they be in cover?" Ashley asked.

Shepard smiled and patted James on the shoulder. "You get to charge at them just like you wanted to. You're a walking tank, just fulfill that role here. I want you to suppress this whole area. Scare these bastards behind cover. Got it James?"

"Oh hell yeah Commander."

Shepard held up a hand.

"Wait until Ashley is in position."

The enemy soldier who had been aimlessly watching the road finally looked away. They were gathering around the dead Alliance servicemen. With the raised hand, Shepard motioned Ashley toward the cliff. Ashley ran while keeping her body as low to the ground as she could. She weaved behind cover toward the large rock outcropping. Her back slid into the side of the cliffside and she waited. Now it was James' turn. James turned his back to Shepard and prepared to bolt out from behind cover into the open.

_1, 2, 3!_

Shepard tapped James' back once. James was gone before he could tap him a second time. Carnage spewed forth from James' omnitool and he screamed

"Hey motherfuckers!"

The soldiers reacted surprisingly quickly and many ducked behind their vehicles or low rock walls before the Carnage impacted. Two weren't so lucky. The Carnage impacted one soldier's chest. He exploded in fire and pain. Charred and bloodied bits littered the ground. The small shockwave knocked back his nearby comrade. Automatic fire spewed out of James' Avenger killing the downed soldier and pockmarked the low walls and vehicles the enemy was using for cover. Soon enough though, the enemy realized that it was only one soldier they were facing and many leaned out to return fire forcing James to duck behind a rock wall.

"Okay!" James yelled. "I think I got their attention!"

Shepard removed the recently acquired sniper rifle from his back and got into a prone position with it. His cover was at the top of the low hill descending to the enemy so he had a clear line of sight at whomever he wanted.

_At this range, they will be easy pickings. _

His eye hovered near the reticule so he could still see the entire area until Ashley did her job. Suddenly, an enemy soldier stumbled out from behind the rock walls near Ashley, bullets peppering the back of his armour. Shepard leaned his head in, brought his crosshair up, and fired in one fluid motion. The bullet entered the back of the stumbling soldier's neck, bore through the man's Adam's Apple, and exited into the vehicle behind him. One clean shot. One gruesome kill. James leaned out as often as he could to return fire but he was the most exposed. Several shots impacted James' shields. His audacity led him to get his shields depleted and his armour damaged before he ducked back behind cover. Now that Shepard had a much closer look at the enemy, a repulsive thought hit him.

_Those colours. They're… they're Cerberus colours!_

Shepard couldn't help himself. He hissed into the radio one word.

"Cerberus."

Fire entered his veins. His bloodlust rose at the thought of Cerberus executing his fellow soldiers. Shepard always hated Cerberus. He could never forgive them for what they had caused on Akuze. Their planted distress call had lured his soldiers to the damn Thresher Maw just so Cerberus could study the giant creature. Shepard was the only survivor. This was the first time Shepard had the chance to kill a member of Cerberus. Each bullet he fired was vengeance for his platoon. Cerberus soldiers quickly died by his hands. The sights of his rifle fell upon one soldier and he pulled his finger against the trigger. The man's armoured head exploded and painted the side of the vehicle behind what was left of the body. The now empty shell fell lifeless to the ground. But Shepard didn't notice. He was too busy setting his sights upon the next Cerberus soldier. There was no anger, no hate, only focus. Only the target. The well trained team was somewhat uncoordinated due to the fact that they had never fought together before but their individual skill more than compensated. The ambush quickly ended as the last Cerberus soldier fell, screaming his last breath before he choked on his lifeblood pouring forth from his mortal wounds.

"Looks like you were right sir." James reported as he kicked over a bloodied body of a fallen soldier. "These guys have Cerberus markings."

"What the hell is Cerberus doing here?" Ashley quickly put in.

Shepard knew what she was getting at. She had already made her feelings toward Shepard's temporary partnership with Cerberus quite clear.

"Good question."

"You don't know?" came her calculated response.

"I'm not with them anymore Ash, if that's what you're asking" Shepard replied with exasperation. "And even when I was, I isolated myself from the Illusive Man and the rest of Cerberus as much as I could."

Ashley realized that a battlefield was not a good place for this discussion and retreated her inquiry.

"It wasn't, but you have to admit, this is a coincidence."

A new wave of Cerberus soldiers soon found their blood seeping into the ground. It was a suitable outlet for Shepard's frustrations. James shrugged off a few close calls but no one, besides the Cerberus soldiers, was seriously injured. The group jumped onto a waiting freight elevator at the entrance of the facility. Shepard closed the doors behind them and activated the decompression system. Atmosphere flooded the chamber and the squad removed their helmets. _Peripheral vision will be important in the tight quarters of the facility._ Unsurprisingly, Ashley broached the touchy subject again.

"I need a straight answer Shepard."

James knowingly backed away from the two of them and busied himself with his rifle.

"What exactly have I been giving you?"

Ashley ignored this and continued with her aggressive questioning.

"Do you know anything about this? What is Cerberus doing here?"

"Judging by your second question I think you've already made up your mind about the first one."

Ashley crossed her arms and waited expectantly despite the quip so Shepard continued.

"Why do you think I know what the hell is going on here?"

"You WORKED for them Shepard. You worked for terrorists. How am I supposed to believe you've cut all ties?"

"I know firsthand what Cerberus has done Ash, and I will never forgive them. They killed my brothers and sisters, and nearly killed me! But I put aside my feelings and partnered with Cerberus temporarily to stop the Collectors. I never followed Cerberus. I ran my operation no matter what the Illusive Man told me to do. That's it."

"But they rebuilt you" came her meek response.

"They gave you a ship, countless resources-"

Shepard cut her off before she became too caught up in her emotions.

"Let me be clear. I have had no contact with Cerberus since I destroyed the Collector base. I completed the one goal we had in common and then I moved on. I have no idea why they're here or what they want. Got it?"

James jumped in to assist Shepard.

"The Commander has been under constant surveillance since coming back to Earth. No way they've communicated since then at least."

"Sorry Shepard" Ashley began but Shepard was having none of it.

"Save your apologies until this issue is put into the ground LC."

"Right…sir."

Reuniting with Liara was a great morale boost for both Shepard and Ashley after seeing their world burn. Her personality was more strained than Ashley remembered her but Shepard had worked with Liara right after he took down the Collector base. He was accustomed to her less naïve more realistic attitude about the universe. She had effectively grown up over the course of her journey to the position of Shadow Broker. The horrors of the galaxy frequently pass through her omnitool due to her position but she retained the strength to fight for what she believed in. And their journey through the facility certainly added to the amount of horrors each would witness in their lives. The suffocated scientists. The cold blooded executions. The huskified Cerberus soldiers were particularly mind blowing. This discovery reinforced Shepard's hate for the organization and the man who leads it. Ashley didn't take the discovery with as much grace but its effect upon her worried Shepard.

_This might lead her to think that they did something like that to me. It might lead credence to her idea that I am being controlled. …Fuck._

Finally, the Prothean artifact loomed above them in the center of the circular room. The eerily glowing tower was alive with green energy. Shepard felt chills along his spine as he remembered the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. The green energy had sucked him in and shoved nearly incomprehensible alien images into his brain. He did not want to have a repeat performance. Shepard sent Ashley to search the room for any remaining Cerberus troops. Liara quickly stepped up to the Prothean control panel while Shepard followed cautiously behind.

"Hurry Liara! I've got a bad feeling about this."

The air behind the nervous pair shimmered with artificial light. Shepard's cybernetically enhanced ears twitched as they caught a sound. The sound of a hologram blinking into existence. Shepard had only heard that sound in the SR2 and only in a very special place. Instincts kicked in. Shepard whirled around and raised his pistol to the now fully formed holographic avatar of The Illusive Man. The Illusive man raised an eyebrow at the weapon uselessly pointed at him and greeted Shepard with a straight face.

"Shepard."

Liara quickly mimicked Shepard's reaction as she realized The Illusive Man, or at least his projection, was here.

"Illusive Man" Liara said accusingly.

The Illusive Man ignored the alien and spoke directly at Shepard.

"Fascinating race, the Protheans. They left all of this for humanity to discover, but we squandered it. The Alliance has been in these archives for more than thirty years and what have they done with it? Nothing. No developments for the good of humanity have ever come from this place."

Shepard was annoyed to say the least and stared daggers at the terrorist before him.

"What do you want? We're busy trying to save the galaxy."

The avatar looked at him with pity and then shifted its gaze to the majestic archives.

"What we've always wanted, Shepard. The data in this artifact holds the key to solving the Reaper question."

"The problem is Illusive Man, your solution is to join the Reapers, or at least have your soldiers do so. Your people are turned into monsters."

Shepard was getting antsy. This exchange was taking too long. _Where is Ashley?_

"Hardly" the Illusive Man interrupted his thoughts. "They are being improved."

"Improved?" Shepard shot back.

_He sounds way too much like Saren. I wonder if he's indoctrinated._

The Illusive Man continued, unruffled by Shepard.

"That's what separates us Shepard. Where you see a means to destroy, I see a means of control. To dominate and harness the Reapers' power." Pride entered the Illusive Man's usually neutral voice. "Imagine how strong humanity would be if we controlled them. We could make this galaxy better. The galaxy will greatly benefit from our leadership. Despite our amateur status, we have advanced farther in a shorter amount of time than any other race in the galaxy."

Shepard's eyebrow steadily rose at that.

"Humanity couldn't maintain a stable or unified government on our own planet for millennia. We can't handle the entire galaxy! We need support. We need allies and friends. We need others, nonhumans, to help us or we will fall apart."

"You know nothing Shepard. We are strong. I am humanity; therefore I know what is best for humanity and what we can do."

Liara looked nervously over her shoulder at the console. Something was wrong with it. She turned and began to access the Archives for her much needed data while Shepard continued the discourse with the lunatic leader.

"Earth is under siege and you're hatching yet another scheme to control the Reapers? Humanity's home is under attack!"

The Illusive Man sounded frustrated, as if he was reasoning with a child but he quickly became accusatory.

"You've always been short sighted. Your decision to destroy the Collector base proved that."

Shepard almost screamed at the holographic avatar of the man he hated most in the universe.

"That base was an abomination! Hundreds of thousands of humans were murdered there. Besides, it was far too risky to leave such a large piece of Reaper tech, hell, even a Reaper, lying around. It would have indoctrinated many more people. The base certainly had defenses that we didn't know about. It would have most likely harmed us in the long run."

Holographic smoke billowed forth as the Illusive Man exhaled. They both had further words exchanged; trying to reason with the other but in the end, both remained stubbornly fixed in place.

"Stay out of my way Shepard. You're risking more than your own life here."

Shepard narrowed his eyes at that.

"And what does that mean exactly?"

The Illusive Man smiled and took another drag from his cigarette.

"You have feelings for your former crew. For some, more powerful than others."

A red spark at the very center of Shepard's pupils flashed for a moment when the Illusive Man uttered the concealed threat. Shepard knew who he was talking about. He was threatening Tali. It was no surprise that the Illusive Man knew about their relationship. Miranda certainly kept replacing the bugs that he found on the SR2 faster than he could remove them during the Collector mission.

Shepard quietly but strongly asserted "Careful Illusive Man, those emotions may make me forget about the Reapers and focus my attention on something, or someone, else."

The Illusive Man smirked due to the success his verbal attack on Shepard.

"Not to worry Shepard. As of now, your former crew is irrelevant to my plans."

Shepard took a step forward, two more red sparks lighting his eyes.

_Stay back asshole._ "As of forever."

Shepard turned away from the holographic display in disgust as the Illusive Man did the same.

"Shepard!"

He quickly joined Liara at the console.

"What?"

"The data!" she moaned. "It's being erased."

_Shit! That bastard was stalling the whole time!_

Before he said anything else, Shepard pointed his pistol at the still active holographic display the Illusive Man's avatar had occupied moments ago and fired several rounds into it.

_Might as well not have him eavesdropping on us._

"How's he doing it?" Liara's eyes zipped through the lines of information streaming along the console as only the Shadow Broker could.

"It's local. Someone's uploading the data from the Archives."

Shepard immediately keyed his radio and contacted Ashley. "Ash, you there?"

"Sure thing Commander."

"There is a Cerberus presence still here. They are stealing the data. Find whoever is doing this now!"

Little did he know, that command was going to nearly cost Ashley her life.


	3. Chapter 3: Politics and Surprises

Shepard finally reached the stairs leading to the Council after discovering that the location of the meeting had, unbeknownst to him, changed. He paused. After all of the speeches he had delivered, to his adversaries or allies, this was going to be the most important one.

_And Udina is not going to be happy with what I am going to say. Oh well. Never liked him anyway._

Shepard walked up the stairs to the meeting area as quickly as he could. Apparently, they had already started without him. Liara was silently standing there, waiting for the Councilors to finish their own discussion with Councilor Udina.

_Still wish Anderson had kept the job._

The Turian Councilor, Sparatus, was speaking to Udina.

"We've got our own problems Councilor. Earth is not in this alone."

"But Earth was the first one hit. By all reports, it faces the brunt of the attack."

Councilor Udina's face was contorted with worry and his eyes almost seemed pleading when he spoke.

_I guess he hasn't fully coped with the news yet._

At the mention of intelligence reports, the Salarian Councilor named Valern, his race known for intelligence gathering, cut in.

"By your reports."

Shepard confidently strode onto the end of the ledge to speak for his race.

"Our reports are accurate. Alliance space was the first system we know of that was attacked by the Reapers. Our ground forces are being decimated as we speak and our fleets are only slightly better off."

"No they are not Commander" the Valern explained. "Reports from STG teams show that Earth was not the first planet attacked. As a matter of fact, nor was Alliance Space. We have reports that Batarian Space was the Reapers' entry point to our galaxy."

_Makes sense. That's where they wanted to enter using the Mass Relay. _

"But we can help Earth. We can't help the Batarians" Councilor Udina argued.

Ever the logical mediator of the Council, the Asari Councilor, Tevos, responded.

"We are well aware of the Batarians' position of complete isolation. We are also aware as to the cause of this."

She said this while pointedly looking at Shepard. Shepard took the jab in stride and remained standing at ease before the seat of galactic power while Valern elaborated.

"Earth was by no means the first planet to be attacked. It is not a special case."

"Agreed" Shepard announced.

Everyone there was taken aback. Udina snapped his gaze on Shepard and the other Councilors looked at him with confusion and a hint of… almost gratitude.

_I have to save the galaxy, not just Earth. I'm sorry Anderson, but you have to wait or no one will be able to come and save you._

"Earth is not important in it of itself. However, it is the largest known Reaper stronghold and should be noted as such. It is also the location of the largest resistance movement against the Reapers. Admiral Anderson himself is leading them. We can use the time we have to regroup our forces, regroup your forces, and undertake our plan to destroy the Reapers. When our forces are ready, we can bring the fight to the Reapers. First by concentrating our forces where the Reapers are weakest, and then move on to their strongholds. Then, we can free Earth."

There was a long pause in the room as everyone digested what Shepard had just said. Sparatus was the first to understand.

"That is… an excellent plan Commander. A sound military strategy."

"What!" Udina cried out.

Tevos and Valern were quick to jump onto Shepard's bandwagon.

"I agree with the Commander on this issue" Valern announced.

"As do I" Tevos proclaimed.

_That's a first._

Udina was not taking this well at all.

"Are you insane Shepard! You are going to get Earth destroyed!"

Shepard swallowed.

"I'm sorry Councilor, but this is the best plan to ensure that Earth has a chance. If we just throw a patchwork of haphazardly and hastily constructed forces against the largest contingent of Reapers known in the galaxy, we will be destroyed and no one will be left to save Earth."

Shepard didn't like having to say this, but he knew that it was the only way.

"We cannot let our rage and want to save a single planet of billions overcome our need to save the galaxy and the other trillions."

Shepard's face seemed to be made of stone as he said this. It was the correct path but each word still tasted like the Thresher Maw acid that had scarred most of his body on Akuze as they left his lips.

"Those are your own people that you are condemning to death!" Udina shouted at him.

"So be it."

Udina couldn't say anything more. He stood dumbfounded. Liara stared at Shepard with awe. As the Shadow Broker, she knew when someone was manipulating people and Shepard was manipulating the most powerful people in the galaxy.

Shepard did not stop.

"Humanity has many other planets Councilor. We are resilient and resourceful. We will survive this apocalypse. A good friend of mine explained this very well. 'Home is recognized thought patterns. Known spaces. Familiar thought processes of fellow sapients. It is belonging. A planet is an amount of material massive enough to collapse into a spherical volume. Rocks, ice, and gasses are not home.' Saving Earth isn't our main goal. Saving the people on Earth is, and we can't do that without a concerted well planned galactic effort. The Asari, Turians, Salarians, and Humans must regroup and prepare. I personally offer my assistance in helping your races do so by any means."

A smile crept up Tevos' face. One attempted to do the same with Valern but his emotion was processed too quickly to reveal anything more than a twitch of the mouth. And Sparatus only nodded at Shepard.

"I'm curious Shepard. You mentioned that there was a plan you would undertake to destroy the Reapers?"

"Yes Councilors. Liara."

Liara stepped up.

"Councilors, we have a plan. A blueprint created by the Protheans during their war with the Reapers."

"A blueprint for what? A weapon?" Sparatus asked.

"We are still piecing the data together but it does indeed appear to be a weapon of some sort."

Valern continued the interview.

"You are sure it is capable of destroying the Reapers?"

"From what we can tell so far that is its intended use."

"The scale… it would be a colossal undertaking. No one has the amount of resources necessary for such a project."

"No. It can't be only one of us" Shepard explained. "We must all devote our races' resources to this project. I forwarded the plans to Admiral Hackett. The remnants of the human fleet are already gathering resources to begin construction."

Liara jumped in to support his claim.

"Our initial calculations suggest that it is very feasible to build."

"IF we work together" Shepard strongly asserted.

Ever the logical one, Tevos pointed out the obvious hole in their case so far.

"Hypothetically, if we did build it, have you considered that the Reapers destroyed the Protheans? What good did this weapon do them?"

_At least she's more open to the idea now than she was earlier._

"It was incomplete" Liara elaborated. "The weapon was a missing component. Something only referred to as 'The Catalyst.' The Protheans ran out of time before they could finish building it."

Sparatus was skeptical and quite rightly so.

"What guarantees do you have that this weapon will do the job?"

"I'm afraid we don't" Shepard replied. "But this is our only option. If any better idea comes up, let us know. Until then, this is our best and only bet. The Reapers won't stop at Earth. They will destroy every advanced organic being in the galaxy if we don't make this weapon."

The three councilors looked at each other for a moment and typed into their consoles both communicating with each other and voting on the matter at hand. Udina could not vote because he had presented the plan to help Earth. The only thing Udina did was stare daggers at Shepard. Shepard didn't make eye contact. He stared straight ahead at the three other councilors, trying to postpone the thrashing that he knew Udina was going to give him. The three Councilors finally raised their heads. Tevos announced the official ruling of the Council.

"The cruel and unfortunate truth is that while the Reapers focus on Earth, we can prepare and regroup."

Udina face palmed almost immediately but that wasn't the entire decree. Valern elaborated.

"We are convening a war summit amongst our species to decide how to fight the Reapers. If we can manage to secure our own borders, we may once again consider aiding you."

"However" Tevos continued. "We have chosen to accept the other half of Councilor Udina's motion. When our militaries are able, with Shepard's assistance, we will begin undertaking offensive campaigns against the Reaper forces. We will assist the humans in securing Earth at its proper time in the strategic theatre."

Councilor Udina shot up at this statement.

"Shepard's idea was not part of my proposal! I did not vote on Shepard's proposition! That proposal cannot be passed by the Council without a unanimous vote!"

"I'm sorry" Tevos explained. "But Shepard presented his proposal during the same time frame reserved for your proposal. According to Council law, they are therefore considered to be two parts of the same motion. If you did not want his proposal to be part of yours, you should have indicated this before the votes were cast. Because you did not, you are considered a party of the proposal and as such, cannot vote on it. Perhaps you had yet to hear of this rule due to your short tenure as Councilor so far."

Shepard smiled. Tevos had just cited one of the most obscure and least used laws that governed Council proceedings Shepard had ever heard. Those were all relics and were largely ignored anyway. Udina looked at her incredulously because of the ruling and the fact that she basically called him a rookie.

_Now I know that she is on my side. At least, as far as she can be while still protecting her race._

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned" Tevos finished.

Before anyone could leave, Udina called after Shepard.

"Shepard! Meet me in my office."

Shepard could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. Liara and Shepard both began walking down the stairs away from the meeting.

Sparatus, Valern, and Tevos gathered together as they began leaving. Sparatus spoke to Tevos first.

"I don't recall there ever being a Citadel law of such a nature Tevos."

"There is none" Valern quickly answered.

"It was necessary to fabricate some information" Tevos said, defending herself. "Shepard is absolutely right on this issue and I will not have that young upstart Udina threatening galactic safety with his impudence."

"Oh. Is that all Tevos?" Sparatus asked with some mockery. "I thought it was that having a human propose such a course of action would protect us from the Sentient Life Rights Activist courts."

Tevos kept a straight face.

"That would be an advantage as well."

"And if Udina were to inquire into the existence of this law?" Sparatus inquired.

Tevos typed a few commands into her omnitool before replying.

"Then he would find that law in the official records but somehow be unable to unearth its origin."

Sparatus laughed.

"It seems that we are finally repaying the Commander for all of his work in protecting the galaxy and our lives. Good. Leaving a Blood Debt unpaid leads to ill will."

Tevos put her hand to her brow and closed her eyes in concentration.

"Call it whatever you want. We won't be able to finish paying the debt unless our races survive long enough. We should all go about doing so."

"The Salarians have been preparing ever since the Batarian relay was destroyed. We have several prototype weapons and defensive measures that we would like to begin mass producing. If the Turian war machine would assist us in doing so…"

The trio walked off, heads close, as they discussed ways in which they could aid each other in fighting the Reapers.

"I hope that's an offer of support" Liara mentioned. "I'll be digging up what I can about the Prothean device. My Shadow Broker contacts may be less useful here than my Archaeological contacts but I'll look everywhere I can."

"Good thinking Liara."

The duo walked under an extended roof that had pillars supporting it on the left side of the Presidium.

"That was amazing Shepard. You keep saying otherwise but your political prowess is amazing. You easily manipulated the Citadel Council into accepting your terms. You got what you wanted Shepard."

"You think so? I certainly have no intention of beginning a political career."

Liara's voice took a more somber tone.

"Was that… hard for you?"

Shepard sighed and put a hand to his head.

"I hadn't been to Earth since I was 18 until the Alliance incarcerated me. It's no longer home for me. My home is with Tali. I care about the people on Earth, but this is necessary. This is the only way. I still fucking hate it. My fellow humans are dying and I can't save them."

Shepard moved his hand from his face and used it to emphasize his words.

"I lied when I insinuated that Earth means nothing. It may only be a sphere of dirt. But it's our dirt damn it! So yeah, this is pretty hard. But as of right now, I have to do this or all of them will die."

Liara reached out and patted his shoulder to give him support. Her Shadow Broker contacts and talent as an information broker allowed her to know how close Tali and Shepard had become. He needed support.

"I'm sure she's fine Shepard. You are doing the best to save the galaxy. If there is anyone in the galaxy that you think is better than you at saving it, then by all means, go find that person and give the person the job. But you and I have been to a lot of places Shepard. We both know that there is no one else. You are the person who can save the galaxy and Tali. You have done it before, and there is nothing stopping you from doing it again."

The words of this pep talk slowly sank into Shepard. He looked over at Liara and his eyes showed both thanks and longing.

"Thanks Liara. I just wish I knew how she is. I haven't seen or heard from her in so long."

They both left the Presidium. Liara went back to the Normandy to scrounge up her old archaeological colleagues, and Shepard went to receive the tongue lashing of his life.

Councilor Udina came storming into his office. Shepard was there waiting for him.

_I should have worn a cup._

The tirade came quickly and without mercy.

"You traitorous little bastard!"

Shepard turned to the door and stood at attention just like he had done when being disciplined in the Marines as Udina entered. Udina went right up into Shepard's face but Shepard maintained his composure.

"I should kill you with my bare hands you fucking jackass! What the hell were you thinking! Do you want to commit genocide again! This time, on your own people you insane fucker!"

Udina slowed his use of slurs and moved away from Shepard to the window, disgust still prominent on his face. Shepard calmly explained himself.

"Sir, it was the only way to ensure that the Council would do something to help us sir. A compromise was needed. It was also-"

"I don't want your fucking excuses you imbecile! Everything the Council has ever done in response to human requests, even now, has boiled down to 'Maybe later.' Now that will be an epitaph on the mass grave of 11 billion."

Udina's body language and actual language made Shepard realize how much the news about Earth had affected Udina.

"Sir, I am going to make sure that as many of those 11 billion that can be saved, will be saved."

Udina paused for a moment and turned to look at Shepard. The contempt in Udina's eyes was now tinged by sadness as he realized that the events Shepard had caused were irrevocably in motion.

"You had better, or I will kill you."

Shepard didn't doubt him.

"The Councilors will help us free Earth Councilor. They cannot go back on their decree."

"Oh please Shepard. Political decrees can be distorted to mean anything. Besides, they are scared. Scared, and looking out for themselves."

"Our people are scared" Sparatus began as he strode into the room.

Shepard whirled toward the approaching Councilor and almost reached for the reinforced heavy weave fiberglass knife hidden in the lining of his pants around his waist.

_How did we not hear the door opening! Must have been too embroiled in the conversation. Too focused while standing at attention. Damn you Pavlov. _

"And we are looking out for them the best we know how." Sparatus concluded.

"Councilor" Udina greeted.

"Councilor" Sparatus returned diplomatically then more warmly spoke to Shepard, immediately sidelining Udina.

"Commander. I'm afraid I can't get you what you need. But I can tell you how to get it."

"I'm listening" Shepard reassured him.

"I would like to be the first to take you up on your offer to personally assist in securing Turian space."

"Happy to help."

Sparatus nodded at that.

"Primarch Fedorian called the war summit, but we lost contact with him when the Reapers hit Palaven."

"The Reapers are at Palaven!" Shepard exclaimed.

Sparatus looked grimmer than usual as he elaborated.

"Yes Commander. Our homeworld is under attack just as yours is."

"I'm sorry Councilor. I didn't know."

Sparatus again nodded in appreciation. Shepard did not share the same animosity toward Turians that some humans did ever since the Turians attacked humanity in the First Contact War. The Turians were a regimented militaristic society where everyone had clear goals. The focus on the military and disciplined behavior made Turian culture very attractive for Shepard. That, and the fact that every Turian was in or had been in the military at some point automatically made Shepard give them some respect. Not the same respect he would give to his superiors, but the same baseline respect he would give to any new squadmate of his.

"It will be on the extranet news soon enough. In any event, those meetings won't proceed without him. The Normandy is one of the few ships that can extract Primarch Fedorian undetected."

"And how will this help secure your borders exactly?"

"It will return one of our best military minds to the fight and provide a large morale boost to my people's forces. And the leaders of this summit will be the ones deciding our future. The fate of our fleets, where they fight, and with whom. A grateful Primarch would be a tremendous ally in your bid to unite us."

"I see. A Primarch is the leader of all Turian forces?"

"Not exactly. A Primarch is the effective equivalent of one of your admirals but Primarchs are… perhaps the best word is 'revered' more than your admirals. The spirit of hundreds of platoons are ascribed to Primarchs. They are the embodiment of our ideals and our best military thinkers."

Shepard nodded in understanding.

_He's right. Rescuing this guy would mean a large step toward bringing the Turian fleets to Earth. _

"I accept your mission. Where can I find this Primarch?"

Sparatus began typing on his omnitool and a three dimensional holographic display of Palaven and her surrounding moons appeared above the Councilors wrist.

"Our latest intelligence says that the Primarch was moved to a base on Palaven's largest moon, Menae."

The holographic display zoomed in and focused on this moon. After a few moments, the Councilor turned off the display.

"One of my officers is waiting outside to give you the full briefing. I've done all I can to help. The rest is up to you."

Sparatus turned and began leaving the office. Udina came up to Shepard to discuss this proposition with him but was stopped by Sparatus.

"There is one other thing Commander. The Council, including Udina, wanted me to tell you. We have chosen to uphold your Spectre status. Your incarceration with the Alliance is in the Citadel records but will be overlooked. And various resources will be made available to you. Good day."

With that, Sparatus left the office. Shepard was rather pleased with himself.

_Surely Udina has now seen the benefits of what I did._

"Well, that went well."

Udina was, in fact, in a better mood. The first whisper of an offer of support had already arrived in his lap.

"It's a start. I'll talk to the others in the meantime. See if I can get them to support this summit. Move things along."

"I appreciate it Councilor."

Udina waved him away as a sign of dismissal. Shepard exited the office and entered the hallway. As the door closed behind him, Shepard leaned against it.

_Whew. That was close. Finally, I have a mission. Something to do to help stop the Reapers._

A Turian in all black armour and black war paint walked up to Shepard.

"Shepard. I am Commander Cato Septimus. Councilor Sparatus told me to brief you on your mission."

Shepard returned to his good posture as the Turian spoke.

"Shall we?"

"Of course Shepard."

Cato beckoned Shepard to follow him and he led Shepard to the Spectre office. The Turian's hand unlocked the scanner and his retina scan was also approved by the door. Shepard was surprised.

"Didn't know that you were a Spectre, Commander." Shepard said as they both walked down the long hallway to the Spectre consoles.

"Forget the formalities Shepard. It doesn't matter what rank you were or still are in any other military. All that matters is that you are a Spectre. You should feel honoured Shepard. Spectres rarely see each other unless they were both inaugurated into the force at the same time or are assigned to the same mission. And you have met four Spectres so far, myself included. A rarity. But I digress."

They both arrived at the Spectre consoles and Cato began typing into one of them.

"I was stationed on Palaven before the Reapers hit. I had been assisting our Reaper consultant in gathering supplies and intelligence regarding their existence. When the Reapers began their assault, I gathered all of the information I could. Luckily, I specialized in the Infiltrator Division of the Turian military and was able to remain on planet during the Reaper assault to acquire additional intelligence."

"Let me have it" Shepard urged him.

Cato finished typing and a larger holographic display of Palaven and her moons glittered into existence above the holographic display disk on the floor. A slow motion version of the Reaper invasion began.

"The Reapers hit us hard. They came at us from this side" he said as the display played it out. "And took out our bases on the two moons in their path by dropping thousands of troops, land based Reapers that Sovereign class Reapers deploy known as Destroyers, and five Sovereign class Reapers for each moon. We lost contact with our troops a few minutes later."

Shepard stared at the display with a calculating gaze, trying to discern a pattern of Reaper movements and deployment that he could predict and exploit. Cato continued.

"Most of the Reaper fleet however moved past the two moons and invaded Palaven directly.

_The moons were just nuisances. Looks like the Reapers fight using only two tactics. Shock Action, themselves, and Attack at the Center of Gravity.. Why do the Reapers go after homeworlds specifically?_

"The majority of our Palaven based tenth, eleventh, and twelfth fleets moved to intercept the Reaper fleet. There were about 200 Sovereign class Reapers at the outset of the battle. We were only able to destroy 15 of them before those three fleets were wiped out. Then the Reapers started to interfere with our communications but we were able to send out basic messages to other ships in visual range with powerful signal flashes. Catastrophe Plan number 47 was put into effect. Several fleets were recalled and regrouped in a neighbouring system while others regrouped around Menae to maintain a foothold from which to fight the Reapers. Luckily, at the time of the initial attack, Menae was on the far side of Palaven and was not immediately attacked by the Reapers."

"What about Palaven itself? How is the fight going there?

Cato shook his head.

"Communications with Palaven are essentially cut off, but we can see the fires spread further and further around Palaven from Menae. As of now, Menae is of more importance than Palaven. Three hours after initial contact, Menae was invaded by five Sovereign class Reapers and their assorted ground forces."

"So they use the same pattern for invading moons."

"It would appear so. Data from the first two moons and Menae indicate that five Sovereign Reapers can deploy twenty five Destroyers and an assortment of ground troops numbering around ten thousand."

_That's not good._

"Is that all Cato?"

Cato closed the display and typed a few more commands into the console.

"I forwarded the relevant intel to your private terminal aboard the Normandy. Good luck Shepard."

Cato Septimus quickly left the Spectre offices to return to his duties. Shepard was left alone there. He looked at the time on his omnitool. In its haste, the Normandy had left Earth with very few supplies and was due to finish supplying in about twenty minutes. Shepard decided to spend the time investigating the Spectre consoles. He logged in and saw that he already had several messages waiting for him. During his browsing, one message demanded his attention. The message was a report on Quarian activity.

_Finally something!_

The report informed him that Quarians were disappearing in the galaxy. Before the pilgrims disappeared, they bought as many ship parts or weapons as they could and then left. Shepard understood the concept and methods involved in the Quarian Pilgrimage and knew that individually, this behavior was normal. However, all pilgrims were disappearing at the same time. This could not be a coincidence.

_They are most likely all being called back to the Migrant Fleet. Good. Then Tali is in the safest place she can be; Surrounded by the largest fleet in the galaxy._

The information regarding disturbances along the Perseus Veil border was troubling. Shepard knew that the Quarians probably wouldn't believe Legions story about how the Geth do not want Rannoch and want to broker a peace. A war between the two races was still possible.

_Damnit. I wish I could go find out exactly what is going on but I don't have time. Hold on Tali. I'll find you as soon as I can. _

Shepard forwarded the information to his terminal aboard the Normandy so he could investigate into it at a later date.

_Step one, make time. Step two, find a quarian. Step three, find the Fleet. Step four, Tali. _

Shepard began walking out of the Spectre office.

_But before I go, I should really find out how Ash is doing._

Huerta Memorial Hospital was crowded. Many members of armed forces and refugees were being treated but whenever one was treated, three more came to take his place. Some were just lying on the floor, waiting for anyone who would care for them.

_But there are always people who just pretend that there is nothing bad happening in the galaxy._

Shepard's thought was referring to a pair of women arguing over what the name of the hospital should be. Shepard ignored their petty squabble and went straight for the door to the extensive care wing of the hospital. Before he reached it though he heard his name called out.

"Ah, Shepard. There you are."

He turned toward the shout and saw Doctor Chakwas standing on the side with Dr. Michel. Shepard smiled at seeing them both and walked over. It had been a long time since he had seen either.

"Dr. Chakwas, Dr. Michel! It has been a long time."

"Indeed it has Commander" Dr. Michel replied. "I hope you have been well."

_Oh. Right. She doesn't know about… a lot. And it is all confidential._

"I've been better.

Dr. Michel's omnitool began blinking.

"Oh, excuse me. A patient needs me. Good day."

Dr. Michel left the two old friends alone.

"Why are you here Dr. Chakwas?"

"I'm working at an Alliance R&D lab down in the Shaita Wards coordinating closely with Admiral Hackett. I heard you had escaped Earth in the Normandy and that someone on board was critically injured. I came as fast as I could. I, along with Dr. Michel, assisted with Lieutenant Commander Williams' surgery."

Shepard grimaced as he explained the event that had caused the injury.

"We had a run in with a Cerberus synthetic on Mars. Ashley took the worst of it. How's she doing?"

"Very well, all things considered. I'm impressed with Ashley's resilience, along with Dr. Michel's expertise. I wish I had been there to help when she needed it most. She never did bother to become seriously wounded when I was on the Normandy."

Shepard smiled at the small riff.

"It's been six months Doc. What have you been doing during my…absence?"

They both walked over to the window away from the crowds so they wouldn't be overheard. Just in case they spoke about any of Shepard's active or complete missions.

"I was fortunate. When they impounded the Normandy, the Alliance didn't really know what to do with me. I was never officially part of Cerberus and I'd gotten a proper leave of absence from my previous post. The Collector Mission was just my vacation."

Shepard laughed at that.

"Good. So you hadn't technically done anything wrong by joining me to defeat the Collectors."

"Yes. Though I suppose if you were judged to be a war criminal, I would have been tried as an accessory."

"I guess the Alliance makes for an angry spouse."

"Indeed" Dr. Chakwas said with an amused expression at the reference.

"I have to say Doc, the med bay misses you and I'm in need of a doctor."

"I couldn't agree more. You're a Spectre and if you deem me necessary for your mission, then my contract with the R&D Department will be nullified. You say the word, and I'm with you."

With a flourish, Shepard announced her reassignment.

"Well then as a Spectre, I decree that the med bay wouldn't be the same without you Doctor. Get your things. The Normandy is at docking bay D24."

"Thank you Commander. Come see me when you come aboard."

"Don't thank me so soon. Remember, Joker is still aboard."

A smirk accompanying a few chuckles formed on Dr. Chakwas' mouth.

"And I'd be surprised if he's been remembering his medication."

They both arrived at the ship. Shepard left Chakwas to make herself accustomed to the ship while he charted a course for Palaven. He had Joker call the crew back into the Normandy. When the ship was full, it took off into the final frontier. A few minutes later, Shepard made his way down to the med bay. The door slid apart before him and he saw that Dr. Chakwas had already changed into the familiar Alliance Medical Personnel uniform.

"Everything okay down here Doc?" Shepard inquired.

Dr. Chakwas looked around for a moment to confirm her findings.

"The Alliance team cleaned up the bloodstains and restocked, but it's still my old med bay. Feels like home."

"Welcome back."

Dr. Chakwas took out her omnitool as she replied.

"Thank you but let's waste no time. If I may, I would like to examine you."

Shepard gave her a curious look.

"Something wrong with me?"

"No, but we should keep an eye on all those cybernetic implants Cerberus grafted into you."

"I've always wondered Doc, how much of me is machine?"

Dr. Chakwas looked at Shepard's face. He didn't seem to consider it a heavy question with possible metaphysical implications that would call into question his humanity so she answered the question as she saw it.

"Most of your skeleton is machinery and plenty of your muscles have been cybernetically reinforced or regrown with nanites."

Shepard was taken aback.

"Expensive stuff. Bringing me back."

"And worth every penny. Let's just make sure everything is okay."

"I guess a checkup never hurt. Just no scalpel this time Doc" Shepard pleaded.

A few moments passed as Dr. Chakwas passed her omnitool over Shepard and allowed it to take many scans of him.

"Alas, to my great disappointment, it is nothing invasive. I'm just going to run some diagnostics on your implants, and they will take a few readings."

Dr. Chakwas' stared at her omnitool as she analyzed the acquired data. Eventually, she slowly and carefully replied.

"On second thought, that scalpel might be necessary."

"What?" Shepard sputtered out, dumbfounded as to what could be wrong.

"Your implants are showing signs of rejection" Dr. Chakwas replied in a somewhat concerned voice.

"I thought you said that wouldn't happen if I maintained positive thoughts? I think I certainly have!" Shepard questioned. "What does this mean?"

Dr. Chakwas continued staring at her omnitool as more data came through and continued answering with the voice of a doctor who has seen countless in agony on her table. It was an analytical voice.

"No, I said that your scars wouldn't glow if you maintained a positive outlook. Your body wasn't rejecting the implants at the time. I've worked on several bioengineered people in my career but nothing as advanced as what you have. Your body has started to realize that it was rebuilt by artificial means and is slowly beginning to treat your implants as foreign bodies. These implants, like many others, have methods to stop this effect but your body appears to be overcoming these methods one by one. Soon enough, your body will reject the implants faster than they can soothe your immune system. This is happening through no fault of your own. Your body is running its natural course."

Shepard started getting nervous.

"How will this affect me?"

"Initial symptoms include a red glow exhibiting from your implants along with some heat. This is caused by the implants release of their counter measures when any cells of the immune system attack them. Increased blood flow and capillary action will enhance and heighten this glowing effect. Subsequent symptoms are more debilitating such as joint pain, Muscular Dystrophy, and bone fractures."

Shepard's eyes had slowly widened as the list went on.

"Doc! I can't suffer from any of those! My job doesn't exactly allow it!"

Dr. Chakwas' voice softened as she saw Shepard's anxiety.

"We still have a couple of months until the more severe symptoms kick in" Dr. Chakwas assured him. "The red glow effect should already be occurring. Don't be alarmed if you start exhibiting this symptom in battle. Your fight or flight response and combat adrenaline will cause it. The glow is harmless and the heat will not affect you. But the heat will not endanger your health because the cybernetic implants will also ensure that your core temperature does not rise due to this artificial heating."

"What about the part including broken bones!" Shepard pointed out.

Dr. Chakwas finally looked up at him.

"I need to operate on you as soon as possible to find out more about these implants before I can treat this. There are cures for this when regular implants are the subject but these reverse engineered Reaper implants are practically an unknown to me."

Shepard's right hand reached up to the back of his head as he paced in a small circle.

"How long will this procedure take?"

"I will need to perform surgery to test certain bones in your body that received the most cybernetic augmentation. Your ribs, femur, humerus, ulna, radius, tibia, a few metatarsals, phalanges, metacarpals, and all of your vertebrae. Tissue tests will be easy enough."

Shepard did not like the sound of getting cut open just about everywhere on his body.

"That sounds difficult Doc."

Dr. Chakwas nodded, her face grim but her eyes determined.

"I will need time to prepare. In a shipboard med bay, this procedure will take a long time. Luckily, we have just restocked. If there are any medics aboard they should report to me as soon as they can. I will need assistants."

"Joker!" Shepard yelled up at the ceiling. "What's our ETA?"

EDI responded before Joker's human reaction time could process the request.

"The Normandy will arrive in the space around Menae in four hours and twenty seven seconds."

"Yeah" Joker belatedly affirmed. "What she said."

"I'll need more time than that to prepare and explain the procedure to any medics we have. Finish your task on Menae first Commander then come and see me."

"EDI!" Shepard called out.

"Yes Shepard?" the disembodied voice answered over the ship's PA system.

"Call every medic we have to the med bay immediately."

"Already done Shepard."

Shepard reached for the door's controls but had to hear one last confirmation before he left.

"And you are sure that I'll be okay for the next few months?"

"Absolutely Commander. By then, I should have a cure ready for you. Don't worry about this Commander, worry about not getting shot."

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief and left for the shuttle bay. He needed to blow off some steam.


	4. Chapter 4: Battles and Brothers

James Vega had claimed a section of the shuttle bay as his quarters. The area quickly filled with exercise equipment, weapons and their mods, and datapads containing certain magazines that were against several Alliance regulations that no CO enforced without causing a mutiny. There was a curtained off area in the back containing a bunk that James slept in. Among the equipment that James had set up was a punching bag at the far end of his little area near the middle of the shuttle bay. Shepard walked by James as he was inspecting his weapons for damage. James looked up from his work.

"Yo Loco! What brings you to mi casa?"

_Why is his nickname for me 'crazy' in Spanish?_

"I'm pretty sure this is still part of my ship."

"Nah Loco. I just let you in here for the dancing."

"Well then" Shepard said as he cracked his knuckles and a smile crossed his face. "I guess I owe you another one."

"Ooooh it's on now Loco. Just let me finish up with my girl here" James replied, indicating the rifle in his hands. "That'll give you some time to dust the rust off your moves. Not too much sparring goes on with officers, so I hear."

"Remember, two Reapers and counting" Shepard reminded him, holding up two fingers.

"Yeah, yeah."

Shepard walked over to the punching bag and loosened up his arms for some boxing. He had taken what silver lining he could from being incarcerated by following a strict physical regiment. Learning some basic boxing from the feeble and tightly controlled extranet connection he was allowed had been a small part of that.

"Hey Loco, want some tape for the wrists?"

Shepard knew James was referring to the supportive tape that boxers wrapped around their fingers and wrists to protect against sprains. He looked down at his hand and flexed it. He felt the small bits of bone and large pieces of metal reacted in response to his nervous stimulus.

"I don't think I need to worry about that."

James shrugged and went back to his work as Shepard began. First, he started with a few slow punches. His mostly metal hands easily impacted the heavy bag, but the bag did not move much.

_Just a small warm up._

While his body went through the repetitive physical work, Shepard's mind wandered. It grazed over the events of the Mars mission and flowed down to his memories of Earth. First, to his distant past. He had never really known his parents. Only a few vague memories of his first several years remained. When he was four, his parents were killed in front of his eyes by a few thugs for the paper in their pockets. The young Shepard was deposited into an orphanage in Chicago but he quickly escaped that hell hole.

_That missionary who ran the place was a total nut case. All that crap about 'God has taken away your parents' and 'You must confess or you will be sent to the eternal pit of fire.' We were kids! We still sang Ring Around the Rosie while we played! Then he started beating us for insubordination. Good thing the street gang The Reds got me out of there. Then I found that Alliance recruiter when I was older. That got me off Earth for good. _

Shepard's started speeding up. The punches landed harder, causing large impressions in the bag. His thoughts fast forwarded to the recent events on Earth. He saw the Reapers laying waste to the planet. It may not have been his home, but his people were dying or worst, being harvested.

_So many human husks._

The fists sped through the air and plowed deep into the punching bag. It didn't even have time to re-inflate before the other fist impacted. The loud heavy rhythmic impacts caused James to put down his rifle and watch the spectacle. Cortez leaned back from his work behind the shuttle and watched as well.

_All those mindless things. I know they die before they are turned but it's still disgusting!_

The bag around the heavy material that weighed the bag down was starting to fray underneath the onslaught. Shepard only intensified his efforts. The senseless slaughter flashed through his mind. The senseless killing of those people in the two shuttles.

_They weren't even trying to harvest people! Just killing them!_

Then he saw that kid. That young kid who saw everything he had and ever would have taken from him by an enemy indifferent to life. Shepard remembered those eyes. The eyes of someone begging to live.

With a roar Shepard brought his left leg up and kicked the punching bag with as much anger and force as he could. The metal supports attaching the bag to an extension of the Normandy's hull and the floor shattered. The bag flew through the air and slammed into the floor in the middle of the shuttle bay.

Shepard breathed heavily. He was surprised with himself. The cybernetic implants Cerberus had given him made him stronger and faster than he was before but he usually had more control over his strength. Shepard hadn't had an incident showcasing his seemingly supernatural abilities since Tali had been grabbed by a Geth heretic on the Geth space station Legion had led them to.

A geth prime reached over Tali's cover, grabbed her by the back of her suit, and slammed her into the ground on the other side. The Prime raised its fist to finish Tali off but Shepard, seeing Tali in danger, jumped off her former cover, roaring the whole way, and barreled into the Prime. They both tumbled to the ground but Shepard recovered first. In a rage, he ran over to the kneeling Prime, grabbed it by its neck with his left hand, and slammed his right fist into its armoured neck. The reinforced metal gave way like wet paper maché. Shepard grabbed something he thought was important and started ripping it out of the machine soldier below him. As Shepard's white oil covered hand came out, so too did a large cable. The light in the geth's singular optic blinked out as did the artificial's existence. Without hesitation, Shepard rolled over Tali and covered her to block her from incoming geth fire. He had to protect her.

'Are you all right Tali?' he asked as he frantically looked her over. Legion analyzed the situation and switched to its automatic Avenger to give the two of them covering fire.

'I'm good Shepard. Just a bit bruised' his love reassured him.

Shepard fired a few shots at any geth he could see and then helped Tali up. He put her right arm over his shoulder and got her back behind cover. Tali sat down, leaning against the low box, and rubbed her back.

'What a Bosh'tet! Ah!'

Shepard became very concerned. They only had a couple of minutes before the pulse fired, rewrote the geth heretics and killed any organics on board the station. There was no time.

'Are you injured?' Legion called out as it continued to lay down suppressive fire.

'We'll be fine' Shepard replied just has his shield recharged. 'But we have to go now!'

'No argument here.' Tali put in with a groan.

The geth still owned the remainder of the hallway that led to the shuttle and they only had about a minute left. Adrenaline pounding through his skull, Shepard quickly drew up a plan.

'Legion, you're the tank here! Keep as many of them off us as we move. Tali, hack one of the geth as far down the hall as you can. That'll be our distraction. As soon as you do that, we're running.'

'Acknowledged' Legion responded. It then stopped leaning out of its cover and waited for Tali's efforts to bear fruit. Tali began typing into her omnitool as fast as she could.

'But Shepard, I can't run so fast like this.'

A geth soldier down the hallway suddenly started firing on its former comrades.

'Not to worry' Shepard said.

Before she knew what was happening, Shepard scooped Tali up in his arms with his hands on her back and between her knees.

'Woaw!' burst out of Tali's mouth as she instinctively reached around Shepard's neck for balance. Shepard yelled a single command.

'Move!'

Legion ran out from behind his cover and sprinted ahead of Shepard. Shepard soon followed as Legion began firing. His cybernetically enhanced legs allowed him to keep up with Legion's never tiring stride despite Tali being in his arms. The moving convoy made its way past several geth as the synthetics were hit by fire from two directions. Legion was able to switch targets with superhuman speed and efficiency, creating a funnel of a safe zone for the group. The door to the shuttle was very close when Shepard started to take heavy fire. The shields on his back were hit many times. He almost stumbled but knew that if he did, Tali would be in more danger.

_They must've finished off the geth fighter Tali took care of. Shit!_

Soon enough Shepards actual armour started taking hits.

'Shepard!' Tali yelled as she realized the danger.

'Don't worry Tali! I'll get you out of here.'

Finally, they made it to the door. Legion promptly opened it and Shepard quickly put Tali into the shuttle. Shepard turned to give Legion covering fire but realized it wouldn't work. Legion had been tackled by a geth fighter. The rest of the geth heretics had been destroyed by Legion's assault.

'Shepard Commander! We are in danger!' Legion called out in what was a worried voice, for synthetics.

Determined to get Tali out of there, Shepard sprinted at the downed duo. Using the momentum of his short sprint, Shepard kicked the geth heretic in the head with his right foot. The metal head and top of the torso caved in and the entire body flew back into the hallway, bouncing and skidding along the metal floor. Impatient, and rightfully so, Shepard reached down, grabbed Legion, and launched him across the ground into the shuttle. Sparks flew from Legion's body but it was unharmed. Shepard dove in after him. Tali was already at the ship's controls and they immediately left the station. Shepard eased himself into the seat next to her while Legion slowly stood up. Concern creased Shepard's face as he looked Tali over.

'Are you alright Tali?'

'I'm fine Shepard" The wonderful purple clad Quarian said. "I can handle geth.'

His breathing finally slowed and Shepard swam out of his reverie. James was the first to break the silence that had settled over the docking bay.

"Damn Loco. No wonder you beat me. You know what? I think for my own safety I'll take back my offer."

Shepard wasn't listening to him. He was looking down at his hands. There were several small sections of his skin that had small lines of bright orange. A glow was emanating from his implants.

_An orange glow. Looks like the Doc was right. Is that even human blood?_

This thought was quickly squashed. There was no objective to physically remain a human.

_Doesn't matter what happens to me as long as I get the job done and move on to the next mission. …And find Tali. I need to find her. Soon._

* * *

Grey ash flew through the air. Shepard slowly got up from the ground. He didn't recognize the forest he was in but it didn't feel like a foreign place. The forest seemed to melt away the farther Shepard looked, as if it revolved around him.

"Ring around the rosie!"

Shepard turned and reached for a weapon that wasn't there at this surprising outburst. A bright light started to spread out in the forest, forming a giant portal into a lighter world. Shepard walked toward it. Through the portal was a sight Shepard hadn't seen in a very long time. There was a group of children. The children were in a circle, dancing as if without a care in the world. Shepard recognized all of the children. They were from the orphanage in Chicago.

_Is this a memory?_

The children began their chant again, never slowing in their circular dance. Shepard turned his back on this innocent scene and walked deeper into the dark forest. He had squared away with his past a long time ago. Innocence was not for him.

"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!"

There was a red flash behind Shepard. He turned in surprise but there was nothing there. The scene had disappeared. There was only the ever present gray ash floating throughout the air. Confusion played across Shepard's face but a reassuring feeling crept over him and he relaxed. Shadowy figures appeared in the distance as Shepard jogged onward but they always fell away before he got close to them.

_I need to find another light._

Shepard didn't know why, but he knew that he had to. His search was soon rewarded. Another bright light spread before him. The image in the portal was familiar. Shepard smiled and strode directly toward the opening. His armour began shedding itself, leaving only his casual outfit. His foot hit the fertile dirt on the other side right next to one of the thousand of sunflowers around him. He had been to this place many times.

"Shepard."

_There she is._

Shepard turned around and saw Tali right there where the portal once was. She had been waiting for him. They reached out to each other and their forearms joined together. He could feel her warm suit against his skin. Peace came from Tali's heat and washed away Shepard's worry as he stared into her glowing orbs, trying to drink in her essence. But then the bright light came over the skyline of the city in the background. The light flashed into Shepard's eyes, shattering the peace.

"It's OK, Shepard. It's all going to be OK."

The light continued to intensify, burning his eyes. Two words broke out of Shepard's pained grimace.

"It hurts."

Shepard shot up in his bed, hands up to protect himself. But there was no apparent threat. The room was empty. His vision was blurred and it took several blinks to remove an incomprehensible afterimage from his eyes. Shepard's hands quickly reached up and began massaging his head.

_Ugh, did I drink last night? No…_

There was a persistent drumming in Shepard's temples but as his body began waking up, the throbbing faded away. Shepard swung his legs out of his bed and stood up, rotating his neck and shoulders.

_I hope I run into Garrus. He mentioned that he was going to return home_ _when I was jailed. Hope he survived the attacks._

Shepard smirked at the thought.

_It's Garrus. He'll be fine. _

He put on the specialized clothing designed to be worn under his armour and headed down to the shuttle bay. He told EDI to tell Liara and James to get ready and meet him at the shuttle.

_This Primarch better be worth it. _

* * *

The shuttle shook as it entered Menae's artificial atmosphere. Shepard, James, and Liara waited in the back of the shuttle as Cortez expertly flew them towards a Turian base while remaining unseen by Reaper forces. The scene they had witnessed momentarily of Turian ships being crushed by Sovereign class Reapers was quite bitter. Even the mighty Turians couldn't hold out against the Reapers. The view screen in the shuttle snapped to life and all three squadmates turned to it. The image only heightened these ill feelings.

"Oh no. No" Liara moaned. "Palaven."

The monitor showed a sea of flame slowly spreading across Palaven's surface. The Reapers were advancing. Always advancing. Shepard began to have misgivings about his initial thoughts of Garrus' safety.

_I know Garrus is great but… that looks really bad._

Shepard noticed that James looked concerned at their reactions, not knowing what Palaven meant to the two there.

"We have an old friend there" Shepard explained to him.

James nodded but couldn't help exclaiming the obvious in an amazed voice.

"Holy hell. They're getting decimated."

Shepard added to this sentiment.

"Strongest military in the galaxy and the Reapers are obliterating it."

"Was it like this on Earth?" Liara asked Shepard, honestly curious.

"…Yes."

Liara's voice grew softer.

"Shepard… I'm so sorry."

Shepard patted the pistol on his hip.

"No use worrying. We can't do anything about it. Not yet anyway. But rest assured, when Earth's time comes, we will take it back."

Their discussion was interrupted by Cortez's voice from the cockpit.

"Commander! The LZ is getting swarmed! It's gonna be hot!"

Shepard stood up and unholstered his newly acquired M-15 Vindicator assault rifle.

_It's been a while but I think I remember how to use this gun. Now I can test it out on the real threat._

"James, open the door."

The door swung open and they finally saw Menae's surface with their own eyes. The terrain was similar to Earth's moon but there was an atmosphere present. And husks. Many husks. The shuttle was speeding through the air and Shepard didn't have a clear shot until they arrived at the LZ itself. As the shuttle began to touch down, Shepard opened fire on the husks running toward their transport. The mindless techno-zombies found themselves crumbling on the ground very quickly. It was never a challenge. The well trained group worked their way through waves of these former humans until no more came to replenish their ranks.

_These things aren't even worth the wasted bullets! _

Shepard walked over to the Turian soldier they had inadvertently aided in the fight. His experience as a CO allowed him to immediately take command.

"Soldier!"

The Turian stood up straight out of habit and responded to Shepard's tone despite the fact that Shepard had no actual command over him.

"Sir!"

"Where's the commanding officer of this base?"

The Turian indicated the direction with his assault rifle.

"Around the corner, past the first barricade sir."

"Good. Carry on."

His Turian hands wrapped tighter around his rifle.

"Yes sir."

The group moved on. Shepard scanned the fortifications as they walked by, familiarizing himself with the area for future reference in combat. His eyes fell upon the Turian guards and stayed on them until they lowered their weapons and announced the groups approach to their comrades.

"Hold your fire! Friendlies coming in!"

The gate in the barricade slid down and allowed the party into the base proper. The sounds accompanying a military base washed over Shepard. He breathed in heavily, wallowing in every second of it. The sound of thermal clips being loaded into weapons, fortifications being reinforced, and best of all, the sound of knives being sharpened. He had missed this. Shepard opened his eyes and strode on toward a group of Turians, one of which he assumed might be the leader. Their conversation wafted out to meet Shepard as he came closer. The leader quickly became obvious. A Turian wearing red and black armour was giving orders.

"Tobestik, get your men up on that north barricade!"

"Yes sir!"

The leader never looked up from his console displaying the battlefield and tactical data.

"Sergeant Bartus, find a way to get that comm tower operational."

"Sir!"

The two soldiers ran to complete their goals leaving Shepard and his squad alone with the apparent leader. The Turian didn't even look up as Shepard approached.

"Commander Shepard. Heard you were coming but didn't believe it. General Corinthus."

_Short and to the point. No wasted words. Almost like Mordin. To business then._

"I've come to get Primarch Fedorian, General."

This statement made Corinthus' hands cease their incessant typing and he looked up for a moment.

"Primarch Fedorian is dead. His shuttle was shot down an hour ago as it tried to leave the moon."

_Damnit! Didn't the Councilor tell him I'd be coming? I guess communications here are worse than Cato said. This complicates things._

"I'm sorry. I heard he was a good man and soldier.'

"And a friend. He would have been an outstanding diplomat."

Corinthus sadly added the third title but retained his military composure. He treated his friend's death like any soldier; put it in the back of your mind until the enemy is defeated. Shepard moved on from the topic to the far more pressing matter of a lack of a Primarch.

"So who's his second in command? He must have a successor."

Unsurprisingly, the Shadow Broker knew the answer.

"The Turian hierarchy provides very clear lines of succession. Knowing who he is should not be a problem, finding him will be."

Shepard nodded and turned back to Corinthus.

"Alright. General Corinthus?"

From Corinthus' expression, it was obvious this wouldn't be as easy as it seemed.

"With such heavy casualties" Corinthus explained, "it's hard for me to be certain who the next Primarch is. Palaven Command will know. We had set up a comms relay to communicate with them a few hours ago after our first one was destroyed by the Reapers' initial push but now contacting them is impossible. The new comms tower is out."

Corinthus indicated the area of the tower on his holographic map.

"And husks are swarming the area. We can't get close enough to repair it."

Shepard energetically grabbed his Vindicator from his back.

"That's where I come in General. I'll get your tower operational."

This generous announcement caused General Corinthus to turn and speak face to face with Shepard.

"Thank you Commander. I'll contact Palaven Command as soon as you fix the comms tower."

After asking several more questions about the current tactical situation, Shepard jogged off to his new assignment.

The tower was not difficult to find. Its spire stabbed the skyline and was the tallest structure in the area. The Turian sergeant that General Corinthus had sent to the tower immediately prior to Shepard's arrival had not fared well. A Turian soldier lay wounded at his feet while he provided cover fire for the working medic. None of the Reaper forces seemed to be carrying any weapons.

_What's the problem? It's just husks. I guess I'm just more accustomed to Reaper forces. Fine by me._

Shepard had Liara use her singularity on a group of approaching husks and James fired his Carnage into the floating creatures. Bullets spat out of Shepard's gun in three round bursts and many husks were burned into oblivion by the incendiary rounds. After only a few husks died though, Shepard saw the lack of necessity in consuming ammunition.

"This is pointless" Shepard announced and holstered his Vindicator.

Liara and James spoke in unison.

"What are you talking about Loco?"

"What are you talking about Shepard?" Liara asked, quite concerned.

Shepard activated his omniblade and reached to his armour's right side with his other hand. He unclipped the sheath, and removed a nine inch blade made of the strongest and most durable material in the galaxy. Liara realized what Shepard was thinking and rolled her eyes at Shepard's course of action. James had a louder reaction.

"Yep. You're definitely loco, Loco."

Shepard just smiled as he moved towards his prey on the balls of his feet, ready to move at a moment's notice.

"Sometimes being loco is the answer."

Then the husks saw him. Shepard had no gun out, only his glowing omniblade and shining knife. They ran towards the open challenge. Many other humanoid husks climbed up from the cliffside and joined their brethren in the uncoordinated charge.

"Liara, James. Cover me."

The two of them stayed on Shepard's flanks and kept those two firing lines clear of husks. The center belonged to Shepard. The first husk came within Shepard's reach and he lashed out. The jab was powerful and true. The omniblade pierced the zombie's head and jutted out the back of it, machinery and decayed flesh falling from the now destroyed face. Shepard stepped to the side and turned past the cybernetic body. His left arm sliced through the air and completely decapitated a husk attempting to tackle him. The head fell and bounced onto the ground. He ripped his omniblade from the first husk's head and it fell unmoving to the ground.

_Come on! Give me a challenge!_

This time a husk Shepard had noticed during his turn came from the right and grabbed his arm. Shepard gracefully pivoted on his left foot, turned his body 180 degrees, lifted the being over his shoulder, and slammed the husk into the ground. The husk's form imprinted into the ground beneath it and Shepard brought his knife down into the creature's chest as he completed throwing the husk. Shepard recovered from his crouched position with his blades ready for more. Emotions were filtered. He felt determination, a pinch of vengeance, and… enjoyment. Shepard hadn't been able to fight with his blades in a long time. With each passing of his sharp instruments across decayed flesh, he grinned. If he had been fighting people, then he would have been somber as he killed. But these things lacked sentience. They are zombies. There is nothing left to kill. There was only a mindless moving sack of machinery and dead flesh that was trying to hurt him and his friends. Shepard's job was to make sure that these bags of bones stopped moving permanently. It isn't killing so much as… putting to rest. His actin and myosin contracted and expanded alongside the microscopic cybernetics in his muscles as he worked his magic. Several more husks fell with deep cuts in their heads or chests. Shepard's movements sliced the air but soon the area was clear. His eyes never stopped moving.

"Liara! James! Any left?"

James swept his assault rifle over the area. One last Singularity, launched by Liara, and a short burst from her Shuriken finished off the last two husks in her lane. Shepard deactivated his omniblade and it bent back into place before the semi-solid and semi-holographic weapon disappeared.

"None here Loco."

"Same here Shepard."

Shepard felt a hand on his foot. He quickly retracted the limb and posed his Turian blade above the moving form. It was the last husk, and it was in the center. It could barely move. Shepard had put a large gash in its torso but it was still moving, if barely. It feebly reached its left hand up to Shepard's flesh, eyes cold and empty of sentient life. Shepard did not hesitate. The trained muscles and metal parts in his own left arm flexed. The nine inch blade glinted in his hand and vengeance was in his eyes. Shepard stabbed down with as much strength as he could muster. The knife passed through the core of the husk like a knife through melting butter. Shattering metal and a synthetic scream filled the air. Shepard's knife dug deep into the earth. The sharp jagged edges of broken machinery jabbed into the armour around Shepard's arm while his knife and hand were surrounded by dirt. Surprise replaced the vengeance and his eyes widened.

_Holy shit! That was way too easy._

Shepard tried to stand up straight but when he attempted to pull up his arm, it resisted. His hand was stuck in the ground. With an impatient groan, Shepard strained against his earthly bonds. Finally, his hand broke free. Shepard held his hand up so he could look at it. Dirt caked his armour and his blade, but his knife was undamaged. Not even a scratch on it. Shepard smiled.

_Gotta love Turian craftsmanship. Their ceremonial daggers are better than any combat materials the Alliance can make. _

Shepard didn't notice it, but if he had looked closer, he would have seen two small orange sparks in his eyes reflected on the blade.

"Alright. Liara, head up the tower and see what you can do."

Liara holstered her Shuriken and grabbed the ladder rungs.

"Will do."

James and Shepard had little trouble handling a few more waves of the mindless creatures. There were plenty for Shepard's blades and James' bullets. It didn't take Liara long to finish her job.

"It's done Shepard. I'm coming down now."

By the time Liara returned, Shepard was breathing heavily and James was thoroughly enjoying himself. Shepard opened a connection to General Corinthus but some more husks were still coming so Shepard finally replaced his blades and took out his M-5 Phalanx pistol.

"General? Do you read? The comm tower is operational."

Shepard set his sights on a husk about 20 meters away. With a single shot, the husk fell.

"Much appreciated Commander. I'll contact Palaven Command."

A singularity threw three husks into the air and Shepard put two shots in each. James shook off a husk on his back, turned, and fired a burst into its body.

"Alright" Shepard replied. "Let me know when you've got something. I'll hold the tower until I hear from you. The husks overran your mens' position. You'll need reinforcements here."

As concise as always, Corinthus responded in one word.

"Understood."

"Shepard out."

It wasn't long until Shepard was heading back into base. General Corinthus had told Shepard that he had found something important. The base was noticeably louder. Wounded soldiers lay on the ground, some screaming as they waited for treatment. The assault on the tower had not gone well for Corinthus' men. Shepard could do nothing for these soldiers so he passed them by and joined General Corinthus. The only way to help them was to focus on his mission.

"General, what have you got?"

"As your asari friend said, succession is usually simple, but right now the hierarchy is in chaos. So many dead or MIA."

This got Shepard worried.

"I need someone. I don't care who! As long as they can get us the Turian resources we need."

General Victus was about to respond but he snapped his head up as a Turian walked up the ramp to his command deck. Shepard turned and looked at the approaching Turian. He was carrying a Mantis sniper rifle. It was Garrus.

"I'm on it Shepard" Garrus announced. "We will find you the Primarch."

Shepard nearly laughed from his joy at seeing his old friend.

"Garrus! You talented son of a bitch. I thought you were on Palaven!"

Corinthus was appalled by this inappropriate outburst and tried to reinstate the atmosphere of military discipline. He saluted Garrus as he spoke.

"Vakarian sir! I didn't see you arrive."

This behavior from a general made Shepard quite curious.

_A general saluting Garrus? Oh that is rich! I have to find out what this is about."_

Apparently Garrus didn't really enjoy the boot licking.

"At ease general" Garrus replied curtly and walked away from the general toward Shepard. Shepard continued speaking with his friend.

"It's damn good to see you Garrus. It's been too long."

Shepard reached his hand out and Garrus grabbed it in a firm handshake. The two battle brothers were united again.

"Well with you being in prison you couldn't exactly bring me on any more suicide missions. I had to find something to fill my time with."

Shepard chuckled a bit.

"It wasn't prison. It was only 'temporary incarceration until the Systems Alliance rules upon your case.' And they were never going to put me in jail. I'm the only human with plenty of experience with the Reapers. Oh, and what's with the 'Vakarian sir!' business?"

Garrus shook his head in exasperation.

"You caught that did you?"

"How could I not?"

"Like you, I'm the closest thing the Turians have to an expert on Reaper forces so I'm… advising" Garrus answered with a shrug.

Shepard realized that they had been ignoring his two squadmates and James didn't have the faintest idea who this man was.

"James" Shepard said as he motioned James over. "This is Garrus Vakarian. He helped me stop Saren and the Collectors. He is one hell of a soldier."

James was like a kid in a candy store.

"It's an honour sir! I've heard all about you. Even some krogan I had fought alongside held you in high regard."

Garrus nodded his head at the acknowledgement.

"Thank you Lieutenant. I'll have to thank Wrex someday for spreading my fame."

This added another name to James' list of important people he did not know but he backed away when Garrus turned to Liara and held out a hand to her.

"Good to see you Liara, or should I call you by your business title?"

Liara shook his hand and returned the joke.

"Only if you want me to call you 'Supreme Turian Advisor' from now on."

Garrus seemed to physically recoil at that.

"Uh, let's just forget I ever said anything."

Liara smiled at her victory and let his hand go.

"It's good to see you in one piece Garrus."

The sound of a nearby explosion brought the group back to reality. Garrus went back to business.

"Right. General Corinthus filled me in. We know who we're after."

"His name?" Shepard asked quickly, his anxiety about losing another Primarch reasserting itself.

General Corinthus turned from his console to answer that.

"Palaven Command tells me that the next Primarch is General Adrien Victus."

"VIctus?" the Shadow Broker asked when she recognized the man. "His name has crossed my desk."

That brought some concern to Shepard.

_Why would Victus be Shadow Broker level material? _

"Know him Garrus?"

Garrus holstered his sniper rifle.

"Yeah. I was fighting alongside him this morning. Lifelong military, gets results, popular with his troops. Not so popular with military command. He has a reputation for playing loose with accepted strategy. He's just like you Shepard. You'll like him."

"It doesn't matter if I like him. Can I trust him?"

Garrus nodded as if it was never an issue.

"We both know conventional strategy won't beat the Reapers. Right now he could be our best leader. And I trust him. Absolutely."

"Good enough for me. What else do you know about him? What do you mean by 'playing loose' with strategy?"

Having seen Victus' files and the unofficial records, this answer was in Liara's field.

"On Taetrus, during the uprising of Khilix Tanus on the continent Eluria, his squad discovered a Salarian spy ring about the same time the Turian separatists did. Rather than neutralize the ring, he fell back, luring in the rebels. He gave up valuable fortifications which the rebels took."

"This is where it gets good" Garrus explained. "Then Tanus' rebels attacked the Salarians and when both groups had worn each other down, Victus moved back in. He took plenty of separatist prisoners and didn't lose a man throughout the entire process. He helped the Hierarchy tremendously in liberating Eluria."

"A bold strategy" General Corinthus cut in. "But wild behaviour doesn't get you advanced up the meritocracy."

Outright surprise welled up in Shepard at that.

_How could you not appreciate the tactical genius this man showed?_

"That's not reckless, that's innovation. The plan never survives contact with the enemy. Strategies need to adapt for every situation. That wins wars."

Corinthus protected his ideology.

"We have the power to make our plans survive first contact."

But then his face fell.

"Rather… we did."

General Corinthus returned to his console. Garrus laughed quietly.

"Primarch Victus. Ha! That should be something to see."

Shepard unholstered his Vindicator and started walking away from the command deck.

"Then let's go find him."

Their march was interrupted by Joker on the radio.

"Commander! Shepard come in."

Impatient, Shepard responded.

"Can this wait Joker? We're in the middle of a war zone."

Joker's tone of voice was all that was needed to express how important what he had to say was.

"We've got a situation on the Normandy, Commander! It's like she's possessed! Shutting down systems, powering up weapons. I can't find the source."

"Who? EDI?"

"Yeah Commander! I can barely fly right now."

_Damnit. We're probably going to need a fast evac._

"Shepard" Liara spoke with a concerned voice. "What is EDI doing to the electronics on the ship?"

Shepard could only shrug.

"Anything and everything by the sound of it."

Consternation burst into Liara's eyes.

"I need to get back onto the Normandy! I need to protect my equipment."

"You brought your Sh-" Garrus cut himself off when he saw James with them. Garrus cleared his throat and continued. "You brought your business material onto a ship with an AI?"

"I never attached it to the Normandy's systems in the first place and told EDI to keep out of it. But if she can't control herself, she might damage my equipment with electronic signals or emissions. My materials are irreplaceable!"

Shepard held his hand up to calm her. She was getting antsy just standing there.

"Alright Liara. Head back to the landing zone and get back to the Normandy. We will get picked up once we have the Primarch."

Liara nodded.

"Thank you Shepard."

She ran off to the shuttle.

"What was that all about?" James asked innocently.

Garrus gave a typical Turian smile which, for a human, looked like a slight curling of his mandibles at the jaw bone joint.

"Sorry Lieutenant. That intel is for Shepard Veterans only. Although, if you help stop the Reapers and live, maybe we could bump you up a few notches."

James humphed loudly but Shepard spoke up.

"Garrus, you said you were with General Victus this morning?"

"Yeah, but we got separated. He went to bolster a flank that was breaking and he sent me to the right flank to protect his men while in transit. He could be anywhere out there by now."

"We're trying to raise him Commander" Corinthus informed them.

A metallic screech rang out through the sky as a giant flying monster flew toward the base.

"Incoming!" James screamed as he leveled his rifle at the beast. The entire compound did the same and many shots flashed through the sky in pursuit of the creature. The beast was large and hard to miss. Shepard and Garrus got off several precise shots at the creature but not near enough damage was dealt to the creature to bring it down. It passed over the nearby airfield and landed there for a moment before flying away.

_An impromptu transport drop!_

"General" Shepard signaled Corinthus. "Tell the Primarch to rendezvous with us here. If not, give me his location."

Corinthus nodded his acknowledgement and Shepard turned to James and Garrus.

"In the meantime. Let's go take care of whatever that thing dropped off. Coming Garrus?" Shepard added, jokingly.

Garrus responded by reloading his sniper rifle.

"Are you kidding -?" Garrus asked.

With a grin, Shepard said "Yes" and cut Garrus off.

Garrus was almost tripped up by this but recovered and responded smoothly.

"In any case, I'm right behind you."

"Wouldn't have it any other way. But why am I always the one out front?"

"Because I'm the better shot" Garrus boasted.

"Oh yeah?" Shepard shot back. "We'll have to test that one of these days."

Two thoughts connected together and struck Garrus as a package but he didn't vocalize it. He kept it in the back of his mind until the right time. The trio ran to the airfield. Shepard noticed a strange sound when they arrived.

"James, is that you breathing so hard?"

James answered in between heavy breathes.

"Atmosphere's a little thinner than I'm used to is all. Adrenaline's better than oxygen any day."

_Oh right. I wouldn't notice that. Thank you cybernetic lungs!_

But then the first human and Batarian husks came into view. Shepard replaced his Vindicator with his M-5 Phalanx, James had his Avenger in his hands, and Garrus was steadying his Mantis sniper rifle. As always, the humanoid husks charged forward without a care for their existence and the Batarian husks fired their built in weapons from cover. As planned, Shepard ran forward and took cover out in front. James got behind the cover immediately to his right and Garrus stayed back to the far left of the barricade's entrance. Garrus had a good view of the area and could cover both of them. Rounds started smacking into the metal walls Shepard and James were using as cover. He and James happily returned fire. Shepard leaned out of his cover and started firing at the oncoming husks. Now that they were so much closer to the enemy, James realized something horrible. His question left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Is it just me, or do those Reapers look like Turians?"

Shepard's eyes widened in realization but then grimaced in disgust.

_Those aren't Batarians!_

"You're right! They do."

A few sniper shots zipped by Shepard and James' heads then Garrus piped in over the radio.

"You haven't met them yet? We call them 'Marauders.' The Reapers harvest everyone. My people included."

"Then let's make sure their bodies aren't turned into Reaper zombies!"

Shepard punctuated his statement by firing a full clip into one of the Marauders and brought down its shield. It stumbled backward but then its head exploded as Garrus finished it off.

"Nice one!" Shepard congratulated. "But do your shots have to pass by so close to my head?"

"Oh come on" Garrus argued. "You've had worse. And if I ever hit your head, I'll let you know."

"Thanks" Shepard retorted in fake exasperation.

_This would not nearly be as much fun without him. _

Reaper reinforcements soon arrived and the fight made a turn for the more difficult. Those Marauders seemed to provide some sort of buff to the smaller husks, making them hardier. Shepard's pistol wasn't killing them fast enough so when the husks got too close, he unsheathed his Turian blade and finished them off in close quarters. James switched to his Katana shotgun and did his best to beat off the husks that covered the distance to their cover.

"I have to get a semiautomatic sniper rifle. This reloading is ridiculous" Garrus announced, commenting on the husks ability to advance up the slope.

Pretty soon it didn't matter. The Reaper dropships stopped coming, and the last husk fell to a blast from James' shotgun. The field grew quiet.

"Alright. Let's head back to base and see what the General is up to" Shepard called out. "Seems like the assault in this area is over and done with."

"Wilco" James responded. "Good enough time as any to resupply."

* * *

The giant monster collapsed, dead, as the last of Shepard's sniper rounds snuck through the creatures armour. Garrus walked up and nudged its head to make sure the job was done.

"Have you ever seen those things before?" Shepard asked Garrus. "I never saw these on Earth."

Garrus moved away from the giant corpse and joined Shepard.

"Yeah. They're a hybrid of Batarian and Turian bodies. It makes sense that they aren't on Earth, or at least weren't in the beginning. Not enough time for Turian bodies to be harvested, combined with Batarians and sent to Earth."

Garrus spread his right hand and shook it at the ground as if he was shaking a fluid from his hand. It was a Turian expression of disgust.

"It's wrong. Their purpose is to kill to desecrate the dead and then create more dead to desecrate. Turian soldiers deserve far better than that."

"Don't worry Garrus" Shepard assured him.

"I'm not. I'll kill every single one that I see to lay my brothers' bodies to rest."

Shepard nodded at that and Corintus' voice came over the radio.

"Shepard, Corinthus here. I can't get a stable comm link to the Primarch."

"Understood General. I'm going to search for him on foot. Shepard out."

Shepard ended the transmission and spoke to Garrus.

"Garrus, take me to the last place you saw Victus. We'll work from there."

"Sure thing Shepard" Garrus affirmed.

"Wait, can't we just take the shuttle?" James asked.

Shepard and Garrus shook their heads as if they both had the same thought at the same time.

"It's too much of a target. Reaper forces will do everything they can to swat it out of the sky" Shepard reasoned.

"And Liara took it. If we wait for it to come back from the Normandy, Primarch Victus could move farther away" Garrus elaborated. "Or he could be killed while we sit around."

James held up his hands in mock surrender, one still gripping his rifle.

"Alright, then let's go. I love a good run like any other marine."

Garrus led the way. The group made their way away from the Turian outpost and headed deeper into contested territory. Fires seemed to burn everywhere. The Sovereign class Reaper in the distance ensured that more fires sprouted up. Its laser was almost continuously firing at a target while it moved slowly but inexorably onward while a Turian ship fired on it to no avail. The bodies of Turian soldiers were everywhere. Some tucked away in a rocky niche, others strewn across the path. Garrus paused to grab one of the soldiers on the ground and moved him next to another corpse. Shepard joined him and grabbed the shoulders of another dead Turian and moved it alongside the two corpses. He stepped back and looked at the line of bodies with Garrus. They both saluted the bodies. No words were needed. Together, they moved on. There was work to do.

James wasn't as comfortable around the legendary Archangel as Shepard was so the silence soon became awkward for him. He broke it first when they rounded a corner and a colossal sight stood before them. James' voice was properly somber.

"Damn. The Reaper took out a frigate. How many people?"

Another Sovereign Reaper came into view as the trio trudged on.

"Oh my god. Would ya look out that."

That statement brought the planet behind the Reaper into focus. Garrus couldn't help himself.

"Damn it! Look at Palaven" Garrus pointed with his sniper rifle. "That blaze of orange. The big one. That's where I was born."

Shepard looked. The sight was not hopeful.

_Damn. Those fires must be huge to be that evident from here. At least they're holding out better than Earth. They're Turians. They stand a better chance. Not much of a silver lining is it. 'That's a bad genocide, but at least it isn't as bad as mine.' Fuck._

James spoke up, trying to get to know the Turian.

"That's rough. Still have family there?"

Garrus paused and bowed his head. Shepard walked up next to him and unsheathed his dagger, showing it to Garrus. Garrus looked at it, then locked eyes with Shepard, and nodded before continuing on.

"My dad. A sister" Garrus replied in a noticeably strained voice.

"They'll be fine Garrus" Shepard said. "Your dad is a powerful man. He can take care of himself and your sister."

"How bad is it there?" James piped up.

_Would you please stop asking about such touchy subjects you slack jawed idiot!_

But Garrus answered anyway.

"Three million lost the first day. Five the second. They gave the shelters time to fill up before hitting them."

After a bit more talk, they finally ran into a group of live Turians who directed them southward. The trip there was uneventful but then several dropships made of flesh and metal screamed overhead and landed amidst another Turian base. Mass gunfire erupted from the area. Shepard began sprinting toward the sounds.

"Let's go people! Nothing's taking this Primarch from me!"

All three ran through a narrow gateway into the camp. Husks were everywhere. Marauders were in good cover firing on Turians entrenched in buildings. It was a mess, but a well handled mess given how bad a direct troop drop could be.

_If he isn't dead, I like this guy already._

"Alright guys" Shepard announced over the radio. "We are taking this corner of the camp and making it our beachhead. Clear it out and then provide support to the soldiers. Complete the encirclement of the enemy."

"Roger that" Garrus replied while switching the slow firing Mantis for the Vindicator.

They moved out. Shepard ran to an abrupt rock incline on the right and used it as cover. A couple of Marauders fired at his position but Garrus hit them with an overload, knocking their shields offline. Shepard leaned out and watched as his bullets took off both of their distorted spiky heads. James covered their left flank and center with his Avenger. Shepard bounded up the rocky slope and moved up to a good position looking over the center of the camp, the kill zone where everyone's field of fire overlapped that area. Shepard switched to his sniper rifle and he motioned James and Garrus up the center. He could easily cover them from where he was. A few more Marauders played wack-a-mole with Shepard, but with a well placed grenade to clear them out of cover and support from the Turians in the camp, they were dealt with. Shepard looked over and saw Garrus line up a shot and destroy a Marauder on the far side of the camp.

_Practice makes perfect._

James was having fun as well. He suppressed a Marauder behind a rock wall and ran up right next to the wall as his clip emptied. He knelt down and when the Marauder leaned up to fire, James reached over the barrier, lifted the Marauder off its feet, groaned so loudly Shepard didn't need the radio to hear it, and slammed it onto his side of the barrier. As quickly as electricity would allow, James activated his omniblade and slammed it into the Marauders chest. It convulsed once and then stopped moving. James knelt down and paused to pant.

_I guess exercising constantly pays off._

But then the real threat fell from the sky. Two Brutes appeared on the field of battle amidst the remains of their entry 'vehicles.'

"Two Brutes incoming!" Shepard shouted though he wondered if that was really necessary. The beasts were impossible to miss.

Everything in the camp focused on the two new threats. Bullets pinged off their armour while others hit their mutated flesh. Either way, the creatures plowed through the storm and headed toward the only three targets not in buildings, Shepard's team. Shepard activated his incendiary ammo and proceeded to empty his clip into the closest beast.

_Burn, baby burn! _

Large black pockmarks formed in the first beast's body as the rounds did their work. Under fire from both the Turians and Shepard's team, the first beast started to collapse about three meters from Garrus. As the huge body fell, the second Brute appeared to be enraged and it charged forward. This Brute collided with its comrade's massive frame and the corpse was launched over Garrus' cover.

"Oh crap!" Garrus yelled in surprise.

Garrus tried to move but his legs got caught. The shoulders of the beast leaned over the rock wall and hit Garrus' legs, pinning them to the ground. James rolled away from the rushing Brute and fired as he backed away. The Brute started trudging toward the downed Turian.

"Little help here!"

"Garrus! Turn up your shields! James!" Shepard called out.

"What!"

"Grenades!"

With that, Shepard armed one of his six grenades and threw it straight at the massive enemy. Upon impact, the grenade exploded in a shower of force and flame. James got the picture and joined him in lobbing explosives. The explosions rocked the creature and it shuddered with each impact. It reached the corner of Garrus' cover but stopped there. It lifted one arm trying to reach its prey, but it was futile. The beast fell to its knees and then collapsed on the ground. James ran up to it and gave it a coup de grace.

"Yeah Motherfucker! Little humans can make you sit your dumb ass down!"

Shepard walked over to Garrus and knelt next to him.

"So… how's it going Garrus?"

"Oh shut up. Get this thing off of me."

Smiling, Shepard reached down and grabbed one of the huge shoulders. He lifted with his superhuman strength and threw the heavy burden back over the edge, freeing Garrus.

"Close enough for you Garrus?"

"That's why I always try to have someone with a shotgun near me at all times."

Shepard's eyes lost their battlefield glow and dimmed as his head bowed for a moment.

"Right. You can't replace Tali's shotgun."

Garrus got the signal and dropped the issue.

"Come on, Shepard. Let's go get our Primarch."


End file.
